


Burnt Cookies

by A_Kristjansson



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Bisexual Peter Parker, Depression, Domestic Avengers, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Pansexual Tony Stark, Peter Parker Has Issues, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark is alive, Tony is a hipster essentially, i'm shit at tags, pepper and tony divorce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:54:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24828652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Kristjansson/pseuds/A_Kristjansson
Summary: Peter held out hope when no one else did, and it paid off. Tony survived, he lived, he gained a robotic arm that Peter helped to design. But now Tony had a kid, and a wife - he'd moved on while Peter was missing.Five years out of the loop and he had to go to school again, had to live through high school drama and superhero hell while his mentor lay comatose in a bed for months on end. When he finally woke up, Peter thought it would go back to normal, but everything just got way more complicated...
Relationships: Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), James "Bucky" Barnes/Stephen Strange, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Sam Wilson/Original Female Character
Comments: 62
Kudos: 161





	1. He Woke Up

‘Hey, Mr Stark! I got the second book of that weird fantasy series you like from the library today. It’s huge, man, I don’t know how anybody could read a book this big that isn’t about science.’

Peter Parker dumped his school bag on the ground by the door as he walked into the small bedroom, crouching down to get The Two Towers out of the black and gold backpack.

‘Flash wasn’t as much of a dick today. I think those pictures of me with Pepper at the hospital helped. He seems to believe I know you now.’ He smiled, perching on the round seat beside the bed and spinning around on it once before bringing his knees to his chest.

‘You look better today.’ The teenager hummed with a brief glance at the monitors surrounding the comatose man.

Tony Stark had been asleep for six months. Snapping his fingers in the Battle of Earth resulted in a lot of complicated surgeries to save what was left of the right side of his body. The surgeons had taken his arm and, although it was still in the socket, the nerves in his eyes were shot to hell, so the vision from it was going to be limited at best.

The bottom half of the injuries were easier. The force of the six stones had shattered his thigh bone which was still in a cast, and his damaged liver was easy to replace with the regeneration tech Dr Cho used. When the right side of his brain sustained a small amount of damage around the edge, Pepper had spent as much money as was needed to get the best technology to fix it. Successful as the surgery was, there was still doubt that some of the man’s motor function would be scorched as bad as his arm was.

When all the surgeries were complete, the man had gone into a coma. In the first three months, Tony had been on a ventilator, unable to breathe on his own. He showed no signs of being able to control his own lungs, much less wake up, and so Peter and Morgan had watched with heavy hearts as Pepper told the doctors to take him off the ventilator.

When the man started gagging on the tube down his throat before they even touched it, hope returned.

So that’s where Tony Stark had been for the last three months. Back at the cabin, in a bedroom with real curtains and a normal, comfortable double bed, and that’s where Peter visited him every day after school.

Peter liked the new room much more than the hospital. It felt alive, like it was breathing along with Mr Stark now that he wasn’t being helped by a great brute of a ventilator.

The teen had made a few changes of course, as had Morgan, to make it look more like a personal bedroom rather than the spare room that it was. Peter had strategically placed a selection of Star Wars figurines on every ledge that faced his mentor, and a giant stuffed Spider-Man doll sat at the end of the man’s bed, holding a bright pink heart inscribed with ‘Spider-Man loves you!’.

He hadn’t thought twice about buying it when he saw the stuffed toy in a store in the city, advertised as a Valentines Day gift the month before last. He did love Mr Stark. The man was like a father to him, he made him his suits and he took him on missions, and he berated him for staying on the spaceship like an angry dad. He had become his father figure, and buying the stuffed Spider-Man had been his own way to show the man he loved him too, even if he hadn’t woken up to see it yet.

‘You’re early today.’

Every day since Tony had been lying in his new bed with a blank look on his face, Peter had visited the cabin, so it was no surprise that he had become close to the whole Stark family.

Pepper was a nice lady. She fed and watered him whenever he was there, made sure he did his homework, insisted he be safe on his superhero patrol, so he didn’t get hurt. Even unknown to him, the blonde woman would cover Peter up with a blanket if he fell asleep reading to Tony. The teenager just assumed when he woke up that he pulled a blanket over himself before falling asleep.

So the appearance of Mrs Stark at the bedroom door wasn’t surprising, and the boy simply tilted his head over the back of the chair, giving Pepper a small smile.

‘Robotics Gang was cancelled.’

The blonde rolled her eyes at that, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as Peter stared at Tony again, resting her chin on his forehead.

‘You’re just like he was.’

He didn’t say anything to that. He didn’t like when Pepper used past tense to refer to Tony, like he wasn’t okay, like he wasn’t waking up. He hated it.

‘He’s not going to wake up, Pete.’

Peter was quiet for a few seconds before he replied, still staring at Tony’s chest moving up and down, the only sign of life he’d given him for three months.

‘I think he will.’ He murmured in response, not totally believing the words himself, but willing to hold onto them for a bit longer if it meant his mentor would come back to him.

Pepper sighed and straightened to stand up, running her fingers through Peter’s curls.

‘Are you staying for dinner today? I’m making meatballs with spaghetti.’

The teen considered the question for a moment, wondering if he should. May had said something about going on a date at breakfast that morning, so he’d probably be alone in the apartment if he went home, and he knew better than to believe that Pepper would let him be on his own for a night after the overdose incident.

‘I’ll stay. Meatballs sound good.’ He tilted his head to look up and smile at her, glad when she smiled back and stroked his cheek.

‘Okay, sweetie. You want something to eat just now?’

Peter frowned for a moment as he thought to himself before nodding.

‘Can I have grilled cheese?’

‘Yeah, I’ll go and make it for you.’ The woman smiled before kissing his forehead.

Peter watched her leave with a forced smile that left once she was out of sight and he turned back to look at Tony. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, taking a deep breath as he opened the book in his lap, flicking to the first page.

He was still amazed by the technology that Tony possessed. For a normal person, a coma lasting six months would be a death sentence, but with the best tech in the world, his mentor’s body had been kept perfectly preserved and alive, like he was awake and healthy already. If you didn’t consider the still healing thigh bone, of course. Peter was truly grateful to Dr Cho and her team for preserving his body like it was frozen in time – he just wished Tony would wake up already.

Trying to focus on something that wouldn’t stress him out, he brought his eyes around to focus on the book in his hands. He didn’t want to read it without Tony, hopeful that he could hear him reading despite the coma. He’d read ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ in less than a month after Pepper told him it was Tony’s favourite book, and despite loving movies and sci-fi far more, he found himself enthralled with the characters.

He’d never tell Tony that, though.

Tracing the title of the chapter on the yellowing first page, he started reading.

‘Aragorn sped on up the hill.’

‘What are you reading?’

Peter’s fingers tightened on the book so he wouldn’t drop it. He couldn’t be awake, no, he’d only just looked at him. His eyes were shut!

Trying to stop his hands from shaking, Peter looked up slowly, letting go of the book immediately when he saw two amber eyes staring back at him.

‘T-t-t, Mr S-s-s, Pepper! Call Dr Cho!’ He managed to yell once he could speak without stuttering, still in a locked gaze with Tony.

‘Why? Peter, what’s happening?!’ Pepper yelled back, sounding panicked.

He heard faint footsteps from the kitchen, signalling that she had abandoned sandwich preparation in favour of checking on her husband. Peter was almost relieved that he wouldn’t have to take in the information alone, but then Tony raised his finger to his lips, giving the teen a lopsided grin.

Peter’s eyes widened at the easy movements, technology surprising him once again, before he frowned at the man’s gesture, confused. Tony didn’t move, keeping his finger to his lips until Peter finally came to some realisation of what he meant and reacted fast while Pepper was still downstairs.

‘Just call her! Your phone’s in the living room!’ He called in reply to her question, relaxing somewhat when her footsteps dissipated back into the kitchen.

He was too ecstatic to see Tony awake, overwhelmed. So overwhelmed that it didn’t even register within him that he’d been waiting for this moment for six months, and he went straight to questioning the man first.

‘Why did I have to send her away? Why are you grinning? Is this funny to you? I’ve been sitting here for six months, waiting for you to wake up! What the hell are you grinning about?’

Tony’s eyes widened at the teen’s outburst, his grin fading immediately.

‘I’ve been out for six months?’ He asked, voice full of fear as he stared back at him.

Peter tried to focus his breathing when he heard Tony’s tone of voice, realising now that he had been completely unconscious for six months with no knowledge of the outside and probably didn’t need a kid shouting at him. Taking the deepest breath he could, he sat forward in his seat a bit to get closer to the man.

‘You’ve been in a coma for six months, yeah.’ He replied a lot calmer than he expected to, running a trembling hand over his face.

He heard a sharp intake of breath from Tony and looked up to see him looking panicked, his face drained of colour now. It looked like an anxiety attack, the kind that Peter had when his senses were overwhelmed.

‘Mr Stark? Hey, sir, don’t panic! It’s alright! Six months, that’s nothing, barely an hour, such a little amount of time-’

‘Peter, if you say six months one more time, I’m going to strangle you.’ Came Tony’s reply, which made him shut his mouth.

‘Sorry.’

A deep sigh.

‘No, I’m sorry, kid. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. That wasn’t fair.’

Peter shrugged, shaking his head.

‘I shouldn’t have snapped at you either. We’re even.’

Tony nodded once before he started blinking a lot, a frown descending on his features.

‘Kid, am I blind? Your edges are fuzzy.’

The teen nodded, pointing to his right eye.

‘Yeah, your optic nerve got a little damaged when you snapped your fingers. Doctor Cho did a bang-up job though, sir, she had to take your arm but she figured you could make yourself a mechanical one! And the regeneration cradle took care of the scarring. It also made you a working liver which I thought was pretty cool. Isn’t something you see every day…’

Peter trailed off when Tony put his hand up to silence him.

‘Okay, Roadrunner, slow down. You’ve gone off the rails again.’ The man laughed, making Peter’s cheeks heat up at the thought of having embarrassed himself.

He kept his head down, too mortified to look at Tony. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at his feet, nervous now that he thought he’d rambled too much and annoyed his mentor.

‘Pete, I missed-’

‘Tony! Oh my god!’ Tony’s words were cut off by Pepper finally coming into the room and seeing him, her eyes wide.

Peter looked up and locked eyes with the man momentarily, before he was being smothered in kisses from Pepper, embracing her with his one good arm and returning the kisses to his lips.

‘You scared the hell out of me, I thought you were dead.’ The blonde insisted, hands shaking as she stroked Tony’s cheeks.

Peter perched on his chair again, watching them interact. He had the overwhelming urge to hug the older man, but he let that sit at the back of his mind, happy to see Tony smile again without realising the expression had weakened when Pepper interrupted their conversation.


	2. Drifting Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Check out my Tumblr (@crystallinecrimsonmoth) for moodboards and reference pictures relating to this fic :3
> 
> I love all you readers, feel free to leave comments to fuel my creativity!

When Doctor Cho arrived, Peter listened intently to every word she said, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He had perched on the other half of Tony’s bed when Pepper sat down in his seat and nibbled on the grilled cheese she made him, not realising how hungry he was until he took a bite of it.

Medication until his body realised the liver was made from his genes, his thigh has to stay in a cast for another week, pain in the right side of his head was normal but call if it lasted more than two weeks, and consult Shuri about nerve connection to whatever new arm he created for himself.

‘Shuri?’

‘T’Challa’s little sister.’

Tony nodded at Peter’s reply, giving his arm up to Helen so she could take a blood sample.

‘Right, Princess of Wakanda, I’m with you now.’

Helen disconnected the test tube of blood and removed the line from Tony’s arm once she had enough of a sample, sticking a plaster over the small pinprick.

‘A lot has changed since you went under, Tony. Six months is a long time, so take it slow, and try not to panic too much about anything.’ She smiled at him, patting his arm before packing away her equipment.

Tony rolled his eyes.

‘I feel like I’m Cap coming out of the ice after seventy years.’

‘You might as well be.’ Pepper responded from her seat, making Peter step in and nudge Tony’s arm.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be your new world tutor.’ He reassured, glad when Tony smiled at him.

‘What would I do without you, Spider-Man?’

‘You’d have a lot less Star Wars stuff in your room if it weren’t for him.’ Pepper smiled, gesturing to the figures dotted around the room on various shelves.

‘I thought they would look nice, and they don’t take up space!’ Peter argued, huffing at the blonde woman as he took another bite of his grilled cheese.

Doctor Cho let out a little laugh before saying her goodbyes and leaving Tony with a list of everything she’d already told him. Tony raised an eyebrow at  
Pepper and Peter once Helen had left.

‘You two seem chummy.’

Peter shrugged, talking with his mouth full.

‘I like her, she’s like May but much better at cooking!’ He expressed through a mouthful of cheese and toasted bread.

Tony smiled fondly at the expression on his face, finding himself using his thumb to wipe away the crumbs on the teen’s cheek. Peter’s face heated up at the gesture and he looked away, embarrassed by his own lack of manners and by the weird gooey feeling he got when Tony touched his skin.

‘The kid’s staying for dinner. I have to pick up Morgan from school, so you two stay put and talk. Okay?’ Pepper smiled as she stood up, petting Peter’s head who nodded quickly, smiling at Tony.

‘I’ll make coffee!’

He watched as Pepper went round to Tony’s side of the bed, the married couple exchanging a kiss before the woman stood straight again, stroking her husband’s cheek.

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too. Go and pick up the demon.’ Tony smiled at her, watching her leave before turning to Peter again.

He narrowed his eyes at the teen, looking suspicious before he spoke.

‘My vision might be a little fuzzy in one eye, but I can tell how little sleep you’ve been getting because you look like me after a seventy-two-hour run with no sleep and forty cups of coffee.’ The man argued, making Peter huff louder this time as he rubbed his eyes.

‘I’m fine. I sleep here sometimes, and I sleep a little at May’s apartment. I’m fine.’ He argued back, letting out a little yawn that contradicted his statement.

Tony sighed, running his only hand through his now lighter hair.

‘Kid, tell me what happened. Lay it all out, you and me, right here.’

Peter froze up a little at that, thinking back to the past six months and reminding himself of everything he’d been through, everything that everyone had been through. The hardest six months of his entire life had only ended in the past hour and he hadn’t had time to process that, but now it all came crashing in like a wave and pouring out of his mouth.

He didn’t want to sound angry, but he was pretty sure he did.

‘Lay it all out? Okay then! Six months ago, I watched you burn yourself half to death, in fact, I thought you were dead! You passed out and I was pushed away, I didn’t get to see you for a whole week and then I finally got to see you in the hospital. You had wires coming out of you and a tube down your throat and no one thought you were going to wake up!’ He cried out, trying to take a breath as everything spilt out of him.

All the pent-up emotion that he’d hidden away to keep Pepper sane and Morgan happy, to keep May from getting stressed out about his wellbeing – it was all flooding out as an attack on Tony for being asleep.

Breathing a little slower now, he felt tears welling up in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks.

‘Pepper almost let you go, and I felt this tight spring in my chest, but I couldn’t cry because I didn’t want to upset Morgan any more than she already was. I’m supposed to be the strong one so I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I wanted to scream, Mr Stark, I needed to scream. It was all too much.’ He looked down at his hands, seeing them trembling but not feeling it, like he had disconnected from his body.

He hated thinking about what he’d done, how easily it had happened. Every nerve in his body told him not to tell Tony what he did, but as always, the man was two steps ahead of him.

‘What did you do, Pete?’ His tone was serious but there was no malice there, just worry.

Peter blinked away more tears that fell from his eyelashes, dripping down onto the bedsheets underneath them. He wished he would stop shaking and crying like a child, but he couldn’t help it, and just tried his best to get the words out.

‘I took all the pills in May’s cupboard. All of them. I wanted it all to stop, but my spider genetics meant that the medication overload didn’t kill me. I just absorbed all the toxins like the pills were tic-tacs.’ He laughed, weak and empty, curling in on himself and bringing his knees to his chest.

There were a few seconds of silence between them before Tony responded, his hand settling on top of Peter’s and forcing the teen to look at him. Peter looked up with red eyes, wet from crying and sore from the whirlwind of emotion they had just experienced.

Tony had a kind smile on his face, the slight droop on one side making it even more unique from the scarring that Helen had managed to fix. He looked sympathetic, but his eyes were serious as he spoke.

‘Go and make the coffee, Pete. You need to relax.’ He told him.

It took Peter a moment to nod, but he did, and he got up to leave the room, getting to the door before Tony spoke up again.

‘Everything’s going to be okay now, Peter. Life’s going to go back to normal.’

He wished he could believe him. Looking over his shoulder at the man, he gave him a smile, and then wandered off to the kitchen, hoping he was right.

But he wasn’t right, and everything didn’t go back to normal.

At first, Peter came around to the cabin every day. Then it was four days a week. Then it was one, and then he only visited the Starks on Morgan’s birthday.

He had witnessed fights, all of Tony’s falls in physiotherapy, the arguments that came when Tony didn’t let anyone help him. The man pushed everyone away, even his own daughter, until Pepper couldn’t take it anymore and they were getting divorced.

Peter hadn’t visited for months when it happened, and it just wasn’t appropriate to go to the cabin anymore. It wasn’t home any longer.

He got all the divorce gossip from the Avengers grapevine. Rocket loved a good gossip story and the raccoon got all the news from Steve when Steve gave it to Thor. According to Captain America, the cabin had become an inhospitable place, full of Tony’s stress and anger and hurt.

After a while, he only connected to Avengers meetings through audio, and he only visited the compound to help with the mechanical suits. Iron Man was a dead hero, his achievements suspended in marble statues around the world, but Tony Stark didn’t wear the suit anymore. No one did.

The last time Peter visited Pepper, she and Morgan were set up in a beautiful apartment near Central Park, twenty-five minutes from his and May’s apartment in Queens. It was an easy taxi ride there, and it was always worth it to see Morgan’s face light up at the sight of him. He’d become so close to the little girl when Tony was in his coma, and as the months passed during and after her parent’s divorce, Peter was a constant source of stability for her.

Life without Tony became surprisingly easy after the first three months without him, and Peter got through high school with even more ease, receiving top grades in everything, so when it came time to choose colleges, the teen had decided to take a gap year.

That’s where he met Apricot, working at a local dog shelter, and the Australian Shepherd dog became his best friend. Everyone loved her, and when he brought her to Morgan’s sixth birthday party, the response was a lot of very excited children crowding around the dog who preened at the attention, padding about like a show dog.

It was nice to see Pepper and Morgan that year, comfortable even without Tony, but when Morgan’s seventh birthday came around, her parents decided to switch off each year, and Rocket told him via their usual hologram catch-ups that the party was being held at the cabin. Where Tony lived.

That’s how Peter ended up standing at Tony Stark’s door, two years since he’d even spoken to him.


	3. Two Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter, y'all!
> 
> Check out Tumblr for reference photos ^^

The cabin looked the same as it had two years before as Peter stood at the bottom of the decking stairs, staring at the familiar building. His heart was pounding in his chest at the thought of seeing Tony again, the memory of a broken man falling to his knees in physiotherapy and screaming at him and Pepper to get out filling his mind to scare him into backing out.

He didn’t want to back out, though. Pepper had said in her text that Tony was fine, that he was happy, but Peter’s memories just didn’t support that, and even the idea of being right scared the shit out of him. So, he stood there, like a deer caught in headlights, until he was able to force his feet up the wooden stairs, knocking on the front door.

Apricot sat obediently by his side, head tilted as she looked up at the door, waiting for something to happen.

‘Daddy, get the door! It might be my friends!’

‘I’m going, sweetie- oh shit.’ Tony seemed to freeze just as much as Peter did when they saw each other through the glass of the door, and just as quickly as Peter had worried about his old mentor’s state of mental wellbeing, did he come to the conclusion that Tony was totally fine.

He looked more than fine. The teenager felt like he was frozen in place as he stared back at a completely different person than he had been expecting.

Tony was blonde! It was the same blonde as he had been two years before but now it was solid. He’d clearly dyed the white and grey hairs away to make it look better and oh hell, it did. He still had the same facial hair, the same salt and pepper goatee, but he was healthier now. It suited him, the muscles and the tank top and the tattoos that were visible on his flesh arm and chest. Peter thought it suited him very well.

He tried to breathe better when Tony started walking towards him, gulping, and then putting on a bright smile, an attempt at hiding his nerves and surprise.

‘Tony… hi.’ Peter breathed out when he opened the door, staring up the smaller distance between them now that he had grown to be almost the same height as the man.

Tony smiled kindly at him, pointing to the cupcake container in the teenager’s hands.

‘You brought cake, and you got taller.’

‘You turned blonde.’

‘I was blonde the last time you saw me.’

‘Well, now you don’t look old with blonde hair.’ Peter couldn’t help the snarky tone that he responded with, but it wasn’t malicious.

He was just in so much emotional turmoil that he forgot his manners for a moment.

Tony’s eyes narrowed at him.

‘You’ve gotten better at being a bitch too, then.’ He commented, his voice sour, before he cracked a smile at Peter, letting him know he wasn’t actually  
pissed at him for calling him old.

Just as Peter went to make another snarky comeback, Apricot decided to bark from her place beside his legs, clearly fed up with the lack of attention. 

Tony’s eyes darted to the dog when he heard her bark, and Peter watched as the older man kneeled down to his best friend, scratching her ears, and letting Apricot jump all over him.

‘Aren’t you the cutest puppy?’ Tony’s fingers grazed the bandana around her neck that had her name embroidered on the fabric.

‘Apricot, that suits you.’ He smiled up at Peter who managed an awkward one back, still unsure of what to say after two years of zero contact, so he went for the easy option.

‘So, where’s Morgan?’ He rocked back and forth on his heels, feeling like he should have gone for something more along the lines of ‘how are you?’ to be polite, but there was no way back now.

Tony stood up at the question, taking the cakes from the teen’s hands and letting him into the house.

‘She’s still getting ready upstairs. You know of any others coming to the party? Guardians? Cap’s team? Carol?’

Peter shrugged, scuffing his trainer on the carpet as he watched Tony put the cakes out on a plate in the kitchen.

The house was covered head to toe in decorations, alien faces and hearts and princesses all pinned up in various forms of banners and posters, with a piñata resembling Stephen Strange hanging from the centre of the ceiling. Peter tilted his head at the sight of it before remembering to answer Tony’s question, leaning against the kitchen counter as he did.

‘Rocket says the Guardians are on Contraxia sorting out some Ravager dispute which I’m pretty sure is code for having a lot of sex in a brothel. Carol is on Planet 0259-S settling refugees from various other planets into the settlements there. As for Cap’s team, I have no idea. I haven’t exactly spoken to the Avengers compound in a while.’ He admitted, hoping Tony wouldn’t react badly to the fact that he’d given up the role of Spider-Man in recent months and handed it over to a new guy.

Tony just nodded and turned around once the cupcakes were neatly arranged on a plate.

‘You want some coffee? I assume you still drink it.’ He smiled, causing Peter to nod absentmindedly, totally lost in the casual tone of the man’s voice.

He watched him turn the kettle on and bring out a jar of coffee mix.

‘So, you gave up Spider-Man?’

Peter shook his head, nudging the sugar tin towards Tony’s hand to indicate he wanted some.

‘Two, please. And yes, well, I passed it on to a new guy.’

‘There’s another Spider-Man?’ The man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he poured the hot water into their mugs, starting to stir the coffee mix into it.

The teenager nodded, running a hand through his curls to calm his nerves that were still sparking at the proximity between him and Tony.

‘Yeah. Oscorp tried to replicate the spider that bit me and this kid, Miles, he got bit on a school trip. I helped him make a suit, he was quite happy to take over the mantle. You’d like him, he’s a nice kid.’ He explained, smiling at the man who nudged a mug of coffee in his direction with an equal grin.

They sipped their coffee for a moment, leaning against the counter. Peter took the opportunity to look around the cabin, finding it strange that not much had changed since he’d last been there. The couch was in the same place, the dining table, the fireplace. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be, and it put him at ease.

‘So what are you doing now? Applying for college?’

Peter shook his head, only half paying attention but hearing the question nonetheless as he drank his coffee.

‘You’re not going to college?!’

‘I’m employed as a hacker for Earth Defence Force’s tech division. They pay me to hack anything of importance and I give them a report on bugs. Pays pretty good, and I work at the dog shelter Monday, Tuesday, Thursday too.’ He smiled at him, watching Apricot chase her tail beside them before bringing up what neither of them wanted to acknowledge.

‘You stopped going to meetings, Rocket mentioned.’

‘You know my whole life, I never would have thought I’d be ratted out by a raccoon.’ Tony laughed in reply, avoiding talking about it already.

Peter frowned, reaching out and touching Tony’s flesh arm to offer solace. He watched as the man’s dark eyes flickered to look at the familiar hand on his bicep, then Tony just smiled at him.

‘I retired. Quit Iron Man, quit the suits, quit all the Earth’s mightiest heroes shtick.’ He admitted, taking a sip of his coffee like it was the easiest thing in the world to give up what he did.

‘Why?’

Bad question. Stupid Peter. He knew exactly why. Tony had almost died in the Battle of Earth; he lost his arm and his eye and his spirit. He’d been a broken man two years ago, really it was a wonder he didn’t quit sooner.

‘I think you know the answer to that already. I can see the cogs turning in your brain.’ Tony gestured in the direction of Peter’s face, making his face heat up.

‘Yeah, stupid question.’ The teen squeaked out, feeling like he was talking to the exact same Tony but at the same time, the man was a totally different person.

They were both quiet for a minute before Tony spoke up again, trying to break the awkward silence.

‘I’m a car mechanic now.’ He told Peter who tilted his head with a little smile.

‘That’s pretty cool.’

‘Peter!’ The younger man was suddenly assaulted by a seven-year-old wrapping around his legs, a big grin on Morgan’s face as she looked up at him.

His face brightened at the sight of the little girl and he moved quickly to scoop her up before Apricot could steal her attention.

‘Hey, kid! How’s my favourite Stark enjoying her birthday so far?’ Peter asked, distracting from his conversation with Tony who just smiled, letting the two kids chat as he took the plate of cupcakes through to the living room.


	4. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gang!
> 
> The update's a bit late today - I might start writing 'Burnt Cookies' and 'Future Serial Killer' every other day to try and make them more detailed and less rushed, so the next chapter of this might be published on Thursday (could be tomorrow still though, you never know ^^).
> 
> Hope you enjoy this one xx

An hour into the party, after Morgan had opened her presents and the group of kids had played twenty different games of tag, Peter found himself surrounded by small children. Tony had gone to the kitchen to clean up the leftovers of lunchtime’s macaroni and pizza, leaving Peter to deal with the kids.

Apricot was spinning in all different directions as she got attention from all of them, barely able to keep up as her ears were scratched everywhere. She was having the time of her life, clearly, with all the focus on her.

Peter watched as she held her head high, letting the attention smother her. He smiled at the dog’s antics, only turning away when someone tugged on his shirt. Looking down, he saw two bright eyes staring up at him, one blue and one brown.

‘Hi.’ He smiled down at the little boy who was smiling too.

‘What’s his name?’ The kid asked, pointing to Apricot who was still preening from all the attention on her.

Peter crouched down beside the boy, so he was at his eye level before replying.

‘Her name’s Apricot, and I’m Peter.’

‘I know. You’re Morgan’s brother, she talks about you a lot.’

‘Well then, I should know your name, sir. You know far too much about my identity already.’ Peter grinned at him, making the kid giggle.

‘I’m Victor. I’m Morgan’s bestest friend!’ Victor exclaimed proudly, making Peter laugh and pretend to be impressed.

‘That’s a big job! You must be a really cool guy; she doesn’t let just anybody be friends with her.’ He smiled more when the kid’s eyes widened in amazement and put his fist out for him to bump.

Victor stared at his hand for a moment before looking at Peter again, seemingly unsure of whether he was worthy of the nineteen-year-old's fist bump. Peter just winked at him.

‘Cool guys gotta stick together, right?’ He let out a small laugh as the boy stared at him like he was a god, nodding and bumping his fist before the older could pull away.

Peter just smiled, standing up and ruffling his hair, about to nudge him over to play with the rest of the kids before he heard Tony’s voice.

‘Cake time, kids!’

Immediately, the group of twenty second-graders was running outside to the big dining table that Tony had set up in the garden and, with no idea what was going on, Apricot was running after them in the excitement.

Peter laughed as he watched Apricot realise what was happening and wander back into the house, going to the water bowl that Tony had set up for her and taking a drink. The older teen leaned against the kitchen island as Tony came back in.

‘You’re good with kids.’ The man expressed and Peter shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

‘I get a lot of them at the shelter adopting rescue dogs, with parents who look like they’re about to shit their pants at the thought of a violent animal in their house. I’m used to convincing people to take in unloved things.’ He smiled at Tony, getting a dish towel as the other started to wash plastic cups.

‘You still haven’t convinced yourself to come back here and see me. Pepper said you sounded nervous on the phone when she told you.’

Peter raised an eyebrow at him as he dried the dishes.

‘You’re not unloved, Tony. And I haven’t seen you in two years, I think I had the right to be nervous.’

Tony shrugged, looking down into the sink.

‘I guess that’s true.’

The kitchen went quiet after that, only the sound of running water and a squeaking sponge filling the silence. Outside, through the gap in the ajar door, the faint chattering of Morgan and her friends echoed around the Stark estate, but it didn’t help the awkward air between Peter and Tony. Neither of them knew what to say, but Tony spoke anyway.

‘Are you staying for dinner?’

Peter’s hands froze a bit at the question.

The last time he’d had dinner at the cabin it had only been him, Pepper and Morgan. Tony had locked himself away in his lab, making alterations to Mark 49 of his replacement arm and cursing loud enough to fill the whole house. It had been a tense night of biting into burgers and making small conversation about school and work before he had finally escaped, leaving the two girls to deal with the nutjob in the basement on their own.

Still uncertain, he considered the fact that Tony had calmed down significantly since the last time he saw him. His new arm functioned as smoothly as his original one, his hair was brushed rather than sticking up in all different directions, and he seemed mentally stable as he washed the dishes. At least Peter hoped he was.

‘I’ll stay for dinner. What are you making?’ He replied, keeping his tone light and friendly like nothing was wrong.

It made Tony smile, and Peter noticed how bright his expression became when he agreed to stay, but he didn’t say anything. If he pointed out how happy he looked, he might jinx it.

‘I was going to make a tuna pasta bake. I got some tuna steaks from the supermarket yesterday; thought I would use them to make a big dish if you’re staying.’

‘You assumed I was staying?’ The teen raised an eyebrow at him.

‘I hoped you would. I wanted you to.’ Tony admitted, keeping his eyes down to avoid the younger’s brown gaze.

Peter couldn’t help but smile at that, watching the man avoid his eyes for a moment before looking around the room. His life had changed so much since he’d last been in Tony’s kitchen. He felt like a completely different person, yet everything here stayed the same. Like walking through a door to the past.

‘You never lost the baby fat in your cheeks.’ The casual comment threw him off guard as he filled a glass with water for himself, and he almost shattered the thing with his super strength.

‘I don’t have baby fat in my cheeks.’ Peter’s face was burning with an embarrassed flush as he sipped the water, feeling Apricot press her wet nose onto the back of his knee.

Tony glanced at him, pointing his finger at his cheeks, and poking one to prove his point that they were more than a little bit plump. The gesture made Peter’s eyes flicker to his old mentor’s hand, and then trail along the rest of his arm, admiring the muscles under his skin.

Jesus, when did that become something he did?

‘See? You have chubby cheeks.’

Peter couldn’t help the huff that escaped him. Tony was still playing him off as a kid with baby fat and shorter height and no maturity. He hated that after two years of getting older and taller and having his voice deepen just a little that the man still treated him like a child. It was beyond frustrating.

‘I’m nineteen, Tony, I don’t have baby fat. I’m not a kid.’ He argued, sitting on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and sipping his water in the quiet of the room.

Tony looked at him with sad eyes. He hadn’t wanted to piss the kid off, but he had to try and remind himself of the barrier that existed between the two of them.

Expecting a shorter, geeky, spotted teenager to show up at his door had been a bit of an unlikely wish. He knew that Peter had grown up over two years, it wasn’t like he was denying the passage of time and the changes it would bring to the teen, but part of him had been hoping that things would just go back to normal with Peter.

That he would show up at the door with the same face that he had when Tony was less stable, looking like a kid that he could be a father figure for because that’s what he was back then and that’s what Tony wanted him to be now.

Then a handsome, pretty, angelic figure of a boy showed up on his doorstep, claiming to be Peter Parker while also being a copy of every slender little thing the man had picked up in a bar over the past two years. Only Tony found him far more enticing than that.

He wasn’t drunk, he wasn’t stressed, he wasn’t high, and he’d barely had four cups of coffee that day. But as he watched Peter drink his water and stare out at the second-grade party, he wanted to pick him up at a bar and pull him home.

Hell, he wanted to ravage the younger man, because he wasn’t Spider-Boy anymore. He was beautiful hacker Peter Parker who worked at a dog shelter.

Tony wanted him. To hell with being his father figure.

‘Tony?’

‘Huh?’ The older man came out of his trance long enough to see Peter staring back at him like he had food on his face, already stood up and heading for the door.

‘Parents are here, Tony, Morgan’s saying goodbye to her friends.’ He pointed out, and Tony glanced out the window to see half a dozen cars parked on the estate with other adults milling around to collect their kids.

‘Oh.’ He hummed, before following Peter outside and smiling at the other parents, ruffling Morgan’s hair as she ran off to say bye to another friend.

‘Thanks for the party, Mr Stark!’ One of the other little girls called out while climbing into a Land Rover, making him wave and smile at her.

Miranda… he thinks? Maybe Olive. Morgan had too many friends to remember all the names of.

Gradually, more kids disappeared, leaving only Victor, Zumi and Carina without their parents. Tony gave Victor a high-five as he ran over to see Peter, smiling wider when the little boy had to jump to reach his hand but managed it in the end.

‘Will you be here next weekend? Morgan is having a movie night with me and Zumi! We’re going to watch Disney films!’ He heard him tell Peter excitedly whose eyes flickered up to look at him for confirmation.

Giving a nod, in the vain hope that Peter might come back to the house again to watch movies, Tony watched as the teen said yes to Victor and made the kid’s day.

‘Mr Stark!’

He whipped around at the sound of his name, giving a wave when he saw Victor’s mother Angela walking over from her car.

‘Angela, what can I do for you?’

The woman smiled at him, putting her hand on top of Carina’s head when she ran over and stood by her mum’s side. The little girl looked up at him with a bright smile, black curls bouncing around her cheeks. Tony smiled back before looking back up at Angela.

‘I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Carina all day. Twenty kids on your own must be quite a handful.’

‘It was. But I have Peter with me, he helped.’ He pointed to Peter who was approaching them with Zumi on his back, acting like a dinosaur as he ran around with her while Apricot and Victor chased each other around in circles.

The little girl giggled as she was let down and Peter picked up Morgan instead, settling the smaller Stark on his hip while flashing Angela a polite smile.

‘Hi, I’m Peter.’

‘Hi, I’m Carina’s mum.’ Angela smiled back at the teen, but Tony noticed her eyes flicker down to look at Peter’s hands under Morgan’s legs.

‘Tony, you really shouldn’t let your son wear nail polish. It’s a bit feminine.’

She did not just say that. Tony was about to respond with an angry retort, but Carina cut in before he could.

‘I think it’s cool, mummy!’

Angela’s lips thinned to a pressed line in response and she smiled without a kind aura this time. Tony clenched his fist to try and keep his temper, managing to stay calm but still giving the woman a little quip as she walked away to her car with Carina in tow.

‘Also, Peter’s not my son but if he was, I’d even let him wear make-up if it made him happy!’

‘Bye, Mr Stark!’

‘Bye, sweetheart! Glad you had fun.’ He called after the little girl who waved as she got into her mother’s car, turning back to Peter once the bitch was gone and petting his cheek without thinking.

‘You okay?’

Peter’s face went bright red when Tony touched it, and he drew back immediately when he realised what he was doing, smiling awkwardly. The teen just shrugged.

‘Not the first time that’s happened.’

Tony didn’t like that at all.

It took another few minutes, but soon Victor and Zumi were back with their parents too, cars driving away from the Stark estate as Tony and Peter went back into the house, Morgan still on the younger man’s hip.

‘Are you staying for dinner, Peter?’ Morgan asked the teen hopefully as he sat her down in a bar stool and Tony poured some juice for her.

‘Course I am, girl.’ Peter grinned at her, and Tony found himself wishing he’d do it more.

Christ, what the fuck was wrong with him?


	5. Dinner & a Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so late! It's literally 1 am and I can't sleep cause it's really hot right now. Send help to your sweating fanfic writer who can't sleep T^T
> 
> Enjoy the chapter! xx

After he helped pack away the long table outside and stuffed the soiled paper plates into a trash bag, interacting with Tony in total silence as they passed rubbish to each other, Peter had settled himself at the table with Morgan. The seven-year-old had decided to pull out her homework, specifically the biology tasks she had to finish for the following Monday.

‘Daddy doesn’t know much about biology, but Mummy says you’re good at it!’ She expressed as she sat on his lap to reach the table comfortably, pointing at the ‘Life Cycle of a Butterfly’ worksheet she had pulled out of her backpack.

Peter raised an eyebrow at Tony who had sat at the other side of the table, at present scrolling through the schematics for a car he had in the workshop.

‘You don’t know the life cycle of a butterfly?’

‘Never learned that crap at school.’ The man replied absentmindedly, enlarging a diagram in the air between them.

‘It’s second-grade science, Tony!’

‘And it’s boring, Peter. Am I a butterfly? No. I don’t need to learn about something that doesn’t concern me.’ He argued, playing around with his hologram while Morgan giggled at his defence, leaning forward to colour in the butterfly on the page.

Peter rolled his eyes at the man.

‘You’re ridiculous.’

‘Well have you ever looked up the difference between synonyms and antonyms? I don’t think so because you don’t work for a publisher.’ Came Tony’s defence which just made Peter sigh.

‘I think you may have just found the world’s thinnest argument, Tony.’

‘Daddy, leave Peter alone, I need his help!’ Morgan argued from where she was perched on the teen’s lap, glaring at her dad who let out a faint laugh, nodding.

‘Sorry, Maguna.’ He apologised before going back to his work, letting them get on with the biology homework.

When they finally finished, Tony had moved onto the kitchen to start making dinner for the three of them, taking into consideration that preparation and cooking time would take at least an hour. While he chopped broccoli to mix in with the tuna and sweetcorn, Morgan had convinced Peter to help her colour in the butterflies on her worksheet, grinning when he agreed to and handing over a blue pen for him to use when he told her it was his favourite colour.

‘I’m sorry about what Carina’s mummy said to you. I think your nails are really cool.’ The little girl mentioned quietly while they coloured, playing with Peter’s hand, and tracing her thumb over the blue polish that covered his nails.

Peter couldn’t help smiling at that, and he petted Morgan’s head gently.

‘You don’t have to apologise, Morg, some people just don’t like it when boys paint their nails or wear make-up. They think it’s just for girls.’

Morgan let out a little huff.

‘I don’t think anything should just be for girls or boys or sunflowers. Anybody can have pretty nails.’ She argued, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she tried to stay inside the lines of the butterfly on the page.

Peter nodded, stroking her hair away from her face with gentle fingers before tilting his head a little when he realised what she’d said.

‘What’s a sunflower?’

‘My friend Jasper. They aren’t a boy or a girl, and they didn’t know what to say when other kids asked what they were, so I suggested being a sunflower because sunflowers are pretty.’ She sounded pleased with herself as she replied, making Peter smile.

‘That’s a cool term.’

‘I know.’

‘Peter! Can you and help me with this?!’ The teen was distracted by the sound of Tony’s voice calling on him from the kitchen, and nudged Morgan’s side as   
she continued to colour.

‘Your dad needs my help, Morg, I can’t be your seat anymore.’ He smiled down at her, laughing when she pouted and then escaping to the kitchen where he found Tony chopping vegetables.

‘Ready for duty, sir!’

Tony didn’t even look at him as he pointed to the cheese grater in a bowl on the counter beside him. The teen couldn’t help his eyes wandering over the man’s arm, the purple details standing out against the grey vibranium and shifting with every movement that Tony made. It was different from Mr Barnes’ arm, less glaring, and despite the dark colour, it looked completely natural on Tony’s body. He wondered what it would feel like on his skin…

‘Start grating, Parker.’ Mr Stark’s voice pulled Peter out of his fantasy land a moment later and the boy nodded quickly, scampering over to the island, and starting to the grate the block of cheese.

They worked in total silence, comfortable, until Peter was reaching the end of the block, dangerously close to cutting his hand.

‘Careful, Pete-’

‘-shit!’ The brunette was already cursing as his finger caught on the sharp part of the grater, brown eyes wide as he stared at the blood running down his finger.

Tony watched with complete and utter confusion as Peter got teary-eyed over a small cut, those big brown eyes wet and glassy as he looked up at Tony, clearly panicking.

‘It hurts!’ He complained, probably assuming the man was judging him for the overreaction, but Tony just laughed, shaking his head, and taking the kid’s injured hand.

‘Kid, calm down, it’s a tiny cut-’

‘-I’m bleeding!’ The teen huffed but followed him like an obedient dog when he was turned around to face the sink.

‘Put it under cold water while I finish up and put the food in the oven.’ He insisted, turning the tap on for him before spreading the cheese over the surface of the pasta bake.

A little whine escaped the younger man as he put his finger under the tap, but Tony tried to ignore it in favour of sliding their future dinner into the oven. He was far too distracted by the boy already and the whining was messing with his head.

Once the dish was cooking in the oven, though, Tony moved to Peter, standing behind the kid with his chest pressed against his back.

‘Really hurts, Mr Stark.’ His soft voice, deepened only slightly by age, admitted.

Doing his best to focus on the problem at hand, Tony nodded, guiding Peter’s hand away from the sink so he could inspect the cut. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, and it wasn’t deep, but whatever pain it was causing Peter was obviously bad enough to make him cry. Tears streaked down his pale cheeks, leaving shiny trails on the plump flesh that sparkled under the light of the kitchen.

‘Is this your enhanced senses? Does it hurt more? I thought you only had the senses of a spider; they don’t even feel pain.’ He frowned, wiping the tears away with his thumb and looking down into the chocolate eyes that stared back at him.

Peter’s lip was trembling, likely from the pain in his finger, but Tony could imagine a scene in his mind where it was because he was staring down at him. 

That Tony’s lips were so close to his own, the kid couldn’t help but tremble at the proximity between them.

Fuck, if only he was brave enough to kiss the jitter away.

‘Tony?’

He was brought out of his horrible, inappropriate thoughts when Peter spoke, lip no longer trembling as he tapped the man’s shoulder to get his attention.

Tony shook his head to get out of his mind, smiling at the teen who was holding his finger out to him.

‘You got any band-aids?’

Tony couldn’t help but laugh a little at Peter’s question when he remembered that he only had Hello Kitty band-aids in the house because of Morgan.

‘Yeah, kid, but you’re not going to like them.’ He teased, rummaging in a drawer, and bringing them out to show him.

Peter’s face dropped.

‘Oh hell no.’

Twenty minutes later and Peter was glaring at Tony from across the dining table, his injury taped up with a sparkling pink Hello Kitty plaster. Morgan had complimented it, but Tony could see that was no comfort to Peter who was in a pissy mood. He knew he couldn’t hold it against him, considering his anger was directed towards a genuinely upsetting memory, but it was still hilarious to watch him grumble about the pink plaster.

The dinner had come out well, the steak strips evenly distributed amongst the pasta and sauce. Morgan had wolfed down half of her share already, surprisingly hungry after her day full of pizza and cake. His daughter seemed to have an insatiable appetite. Exactly like Peter who, despite being annoyed at the plaster on his finger, had worked through two servings already, his increased metabolism making him ten times hungrier than a regular human.

Tony made a mental note to figure out a calorie plan for the kid if he didn’t already have one. Even if he did, Tony’s would probably be better.

‘Are you still Spider-Man?’ He could hear Morgan asking as he sifted through calorie information in his head, trying to figure out what foods were best for Peter to gain and maintain a desirable weight.

‘Well I still have the powers of Spider-Man, but I don’t swing around in the suit anymore. My new friend Miles does that now.’ Peter replied, making the weight on Tony’s heart lift a little bit more.

He knew the teen was strong, had done ever since he’d seen the video of him on YouTube, but he was putting himself in harm’s way back then. Now, with Peter having retired the suit just like he had with Iron Man, Tony didn’t have to worry about saving him from imminent death, because the only way he would ever get back in a suit would be to save Morgan and Peter.

‘Daddy says you can stick to walls. Is that true?’ Morgan asked another curious question while Tony sipped the coffee beside his hand.

‘Daddy’s right, I can stick to walls.’

Oh lord, save Tony’s soul, he did not seriously just call him daddy. The man’s grip on his coffee mug tightened at the word slipping out of the kid’s bee-stung   
lips, knuckles white as he tried to focus on his work.

But Peter was already on his feet and kicking off his shoes, climbing onto the seat he had been situated on a second before. Tony watched in delayed horror as he attached all four limbs to the ceiling, looking down at the two of them like the fucking exorcist.

‘That’s so cool!’ Morgan squealed while Tony shook his head enthusiastically, not having it.

‘Get off the ceiling, Parker. Right now.’ He insisted, but the teen simply crawled to his side of the table, planting his feet firm on the ceiling before hanging down in front of Tony’s face, grinning at him like a child with his head tilted.

‘Enjoying yourself?’

Peter shrugged.

‘You have a nice enough face.’

Tony glared.

‘I’m not catching you if you fall.’

The teen let out a giggle at that which almost floored the older man, and he found himself leaning forward in a haze before Peter turned away from his lips, talking to Morgan again.

Tony hesitated, realising what he had almost done and sitting up properly, coughing as Peter hopped down from the ceiling and grabbed his phone.

‘I’ll call a cab; you don’t need to take me.’ He heard Peter’s voice say in the distance as he came back to earth from the almost kissing incident.

His eyes widened and he shook his head in a vague attempt to stop Peter from going home, but then he stopped, remembering that their newfound relationship was still only on sandy foundations, and let him order the taxi.

When it came no less than half an hour later, after Peter finished colouring in the blue and purple butterfly on Morgan’s schoolwork, Tony went to the door to see him into the cab. He was still hesitant to see him leave, citing the dark sky outside and how tired Peter already was from the party, but he knew the kid had to get home.

Giving Apricot a scratch on the ears when she leapt on him briefly, Tony was surprised to receive a kiss on the cheek when he stood straight again. His entire body froze at the feeling. Soft lips pressing against his rough cheek with a tenderness that he hadn’t known since Pepper, and glossy brown eyes looking up at him with such adoration.

Tony could have melted right there on the spot. He wanted more, he wanted to kiss those red lips raw until the young man underneath him mewled for his attention. His perspective on the kid had totally changed all in a single day, and now he wanted to steal him away forever.

‘Bye, Tony. I’ll see you next week for movie night.’ Peter gave him a smile, his slim hand briefly tracing the muscles of Tony’s flesh arm before he was ushering Apricot into the taxi and disappearing into the night.

Tony was so fucked.


	6. Bad Advice & Needles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> Trigger warning here, this chapter has some drug abuse on Peter's part. Please exercise caution.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Check out my Tumblr too for Starker, Cegan and Hannigram shit @crystallinecrimsonmoth
> 
> Love ya xx

‘May, we’re home!’ Peter called into the flat as Apricot scratched on the door to get through, running between his legs and going in search of the older woman.

The teen laughed at his dog’s enthusiasm, kicking off his sneakers and hanging up the hoodie he was wearing before going to the kitchen, freezing when he saw May and Happy sharing a kiss. He tried to back out, to leave them to it, but then Apricot’s cold nose pressed against his aunt’s leg and she squeaked at the sensation, pulling away from the man with his arms wrapped around her.

Her face went all shades of red when she saw Peter standing awkwardly against the back of the couch.

‘Peter! You’re home. Me and Happy were just… coming back from our date.’ She smiled at him, clearly trying to make the situation a normal thing so no one got anxious.

Peter appreciated that, his anxiety bad enough after the Snap, and smiled back at her.

‘Yeah, Morg’s party ended at three but Tony offered me dinner, so I stayed and ate there. I’ll let you guys get back to your date, I’m going to hang out in my room and call my friends. Happy.’ He gave the man a two-finger wave, who was still standing beside May looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him, and then disappeared into his room with Apricot at his heels.

The Australian shepherd hopped up onto the end of his bed while he locked the door, padding around in a few circles before she settled in a ball, watching her owner with curious eyes.

Peter sighed, flopping down beside her as he started the call with Ned and Rocket, setting the phone up against his wall and smiling when the two picked up.

‘Hey, Ned. Rocket.’

‘Hey, bitches.’ Rocket replied as his muzzle appeared on a hologram beside Peter’s phone, eyes distracted elsewhere with something else in the Milano.

‘Hey, Pete. How’s it going back home?’ Ned’s face appeared on a hologram beside Rocket’s, smiling at him in the friendly way he did now that they had been separated for more than a year.

They had both promised to stay in contact when Peter decided he wasn’t going to MIT with Ned, both boys having a desire to stay friends despite the distance. The dynamic had changed, with Ned settling into life as a Computer Science major and Peter rescuing and training dogs at the shelter, but they were still the dynamic duo whenever they saw each other in person. Peter looked forward to the time at Christmas when he would be able to see his friend.

‘May’s kissing Happy in the living room now. Oh, and I saw Tony today.’ He mentioned casually, remembering he hadn’t actually informed Ned about the birthday party situation yet.

Rocket watched Ned’s reaction quietly, his eyes drifting somewhere else for a moment as he yelled out.

‘Are you that stupid? You’re going to break that, leave it alone!’

‘It’s broken already, I’m trying to fix it!’ Ned and Peter listened on as Thor yelled back at the raccoon from an unseen portion of the ship.

‘You’re breaking it more!’

Peter held back a laugh as Rocket threw something in Thor’s direction, turning back to Ned who was actually interested in his problem.

‘So, you saw Tony? Like Tony Stark? That Tony?’ He pried and Peter could already see him typing on his phone to get MJ on the chat with them.

‘Yes, that Tony. I was at Morgan’s birthday party, Pepper and Tony are switching off the birthday party responsibilities each year now. You know she won’t answer, Ned, we’ll get an angry Michelle if she does.’ The brunette laughed, rolling his eyes when Ned waved him off.

‘It’s only three am there, it’s not that late.’

‘You underestimate the angry one.’ Rocket pointed out as he came back into the conversation.

‘Michelle likes her sleep.’

‘Call me Michelle again and I’ll slap you virtually, Parker.’ Came a grumbled reply over the intercom of their video call, MJ’s face appearing on a separate hologram screen beside his phone.

She didn’t look happy to be awake but smiled nevertheless when her friends waved at her, running a hand through her hair.

‘Hey, nerds. Hey, rabbit.’

‘Hey, gorgeous. It was the short one who messaged you.’

‘You’re literally the height of my knee, Rocket!’

‘I told him not to message you.’ Peter sighed to MJ, interrupting the argument of his other friends who stopped talking.

‘He never listens when you tell him that.’ MJ smiled a little more, waving her hand to change the subject.

‘Anyway, why have I been summoned at this late hour? What have you idiots blown up this time? Or did Peter finally kill a dog?’

Peter’s eyes widened dramatically, and he shook his head, looking horrified.

‘Of course, I haven’t killed a dog!’

‘Then why have I been woken up?’

‘Because I was with Tony and Morgan today and I kissed him on the cheek, and I don’t know what to do with that!’ Peter argued back, making all of his friends go silent for a moment before Ned finally spoke.

‘You kissed Tony Stark?! He’s like fifty years old!’

‘Forty-nine and a half.’

‘His arm is cool. You should steal it for me.’

‘Rocket!’ MJ scolded the other, making the raccoon roll his eyes.

‘I’m kidding!’

Peter noticed MJ roll her eyes at that, a sigh leaving her before she spoke again.

‘What did he do when you kissed his cheek?’

‘I don’t know because I ran and got in the cab after I did it.’ Peter admitted bashfully, eliciting a groan from her.

‘Fuck, humans are stupid.’ Was all Rocket said before his hologram disappeared, clearly not in the mood to deal with Peter’s stupidity, which the teen could understand.

‘I’m too tired to listen to you being socially awkward, call me when you’ve slept with him. Bye, assholes.’ MJ sighed before her window disappeared too and the two boys were left alone in the quiet of Peter’s room.

‘I told you not to call her.’

‘Yeah, I know. Hey, man, I’m going to go. I’ve got a project due next week and I really need to work on it.’ Ned smiled, seeing the disappointment on Peter’s face when he said it.

‘Okay. Sleep well, buddy.’

‘I will, man. You should get some sleep too, okay? Don’t slip.’

Peter nodded, watching as his other friend’s face disappeared before he was left in the dark with Apricot beside him. The dog was already asleep, breathing slow and steady in her dreams, so the teen had the opportunity to reach under his bed.

There was a box under there, marked as a storage container for web solution so May didn’t go into it, that housed medical needles he was able to buy with his hacker wage, and liquid chloral hydrate. Only a few drugs affected spiders, and so Peter was immune to most, but this one fucked him up.

He couldn’t see straight, he felt tired, his limbs went fuzzy. He wasn’t addicted, not in the way that his body shook whenever he didn’t take it enough, but he craved the blissed-out feeling it gave him.

In the beginning, he’d only been using it to sleep better, and it helped, but the nightmares kept coming back. He kept feeling his cells being ripped apart and trying to stitch back together again. Tony’s face as he disappeared into dust, and Tony’s face as he snapped his fingers. It all rushed back to him when he fell asleep, forcing the teen to use the peace-giving drugs more and more under his aunt’s nose.

It was drug abuse, he knew that, but he didn’t care. It was the only way he could sleep.

Tightening the tourniquet on his arm, Peter injected the drug and lay his head back, feeling the world slip away as his pupils constricted. The fuzzy feeling returned to his brain and soon he was lost to reality, fast asleep.

In the week leading up to seeing Tony and Morgan again, Peter was sure he ate enough junk food to give him acne, the stress of seeing his mentor after kissing any part of him setting his nerves on edge.

Then when it reached Friday, he had spread himself out so thin that his chloral hydrate sedation method wouldn’t even be necessary for sleep. He was sure if his head hit a pillow, he’d sleep for a week straight.

Pepper had messaged him earlier in the week to suggest the movie night might turn into a sleepover, based on Tony’s will power when it came to his daughter, and he laughed at that, finding their relationship adorable. So he’d packed a bag for the weekend just in case, regretting his whole life when he realised all his nightwear included shorts that barely covered his ass, but he packed the clothes nonetheless, figuring Tony wouldn’t care that much if he looked like a slut wandering around his house.

Or maybe he would, in Peter’s dreams at least.

Once packed, he glanced at the snow falling outside the window and settled on wearing his brown boots to avoid soaking his feet, leaving Apricot behind with May and running out of the flat into the taxi he’d ordered.

‘Where you headed, kid?’

‘Stark estate.’

‘You know him or something?’

Peter thought about the question as the driver started the car, pulling away from his apartment building. He knew the Tony from two years ago, but he wasn’t so sure about this new guy. Blonde hair, vibranium arm, tattoos – it was like he’d lost himself in his injuries and come out of the depression as a completely different person.

‘I’m a friend of his.’ Was all he replied to the woman, making her shrug and go back to focusing on driving.

Of course, Peter knew it had been hard for Tony. It had taken everything in him not to run over to him every time he fell in physiotherapy, but he was always pushed away. Tony had been in so much pain that he couldn’t even look at Peter most days, never mind talk to him, so he didn’t notice when Peter slipped too.

Tony didn’t know about the scars on his thighs, didn’t know about the drugs, didn’t know about all the things that he had abused in an attempt to find anything to numb the pain. He had been a mess at first when Tony pushed him away, seventeen and testing every drug he could on himself. He drank and he smoked, and he shot up with whatever substance he could buy on the street, desperate to find something to help him forget that bone-chilling feeling of his cells tearing into shreds.

He didn’t know what was going to happen with Tony now that he was okay again, now that he wanted to interact with Peter, but the teen was determined to never let him find out about his drug use. He would hide that secret with his life.

It took an hour to reach the Stark estate before the taxi was slowing down at the outskirts of it, stopped in its tracks by a sheet of black ice covering the road, five minutes’ walk from the house.

‘I’m sorry, kid, I can’t drive on that. You’ll have to walk.’

Peter grimaced when she said that, seeing the sleet coming down from the heavens outside and pulling his hood over his head.

‘Thanks for driving me this far.’ He thanked the nice driver, Gale, and paid his fare, heading out of the cab and into the night, the faded blue sky darkening above his head as more sleet fell, seeping into the cotton fabric of his hoodie.

The teen sighed, starting the walk to the cabin a mile in the distance.


	7. Dripping Wet & Sleepy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey peeps!
> 
> Here's the Starker chapter for today! This was originally planned to have more in it but it would have been 3 and a half thousand words long if I had added everything so the rest will be in Chapter 8 on Wednesday :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Please comment if you like it, kudos, and if you can, buy me a coffee (https://ko-fi.com/mharper)!
> 
> You can also check out my Tumblr @crystallinecrimsonmoth for updates on fics and moodboards based on them! And just general shit, really.
> 
> Bye, folks! xx

In the five minutes it took Peter to reach the front door of the Stark cabin, the sleet raining down from the clouds above only got worse. It soaked through his already thin hoodie to make it stick to him and caused his jeans to cling to his legs like they were a second skin, making the teen shiver all over as he approached the thankfully sheltered door.

Knocking, he waited with shaking knees for Tony to answer the door, smiling with trembling cold lips when he did. His arms were wrapped tight around his body in a hug to keep warm, the overnight bag on his shoulder drooping too as the sleet had seeped through the fabric. A single drop of cold water dripped down from the tip of his nose as he stared back at concerned amber eyes that were warming his insides already.

‘Hey, T-Tony.’

‘Hey, Pete. How did you get that wet?’ The man asked, worried as he let him into the cabin.

Peter shrugged as Tony found a towel and started wiping the water from his flushed red face, still shaking under his touch.

‘There was a r-really big patch of ice at the edge of the estate. It covered the entire road so Gale couldn’t cross it. I h-had to walk from there.’ He explained, teeth chattering still despite the warmth of the cabin around him.

‘Gale?’ Tony questioned as he turned on the kettle to make him a hot drink, his eyes drifting to the puddle of melted sleet forming around Peter’s boots.

‘The taxi driver.’

That made Tony smile while he unzipped the now dark red hoodie clinging to the teen, peeling him like a banana and letting the clothing item drop to the floor.

‘Of course, you made friends with a taxi you knew for an hour.’

‘It’s nice to learn people’s names. F-Friendly, even.’ Peter stuttered from the cold, his face flushing with warmth when he saw Tony’s eyes drift over his soaked shirt, running over the defined muscle underneath.

‘Are the kids here already?’ He asked in a shy tone, trying to distract from the warm gaze on his body.

Tony nodded barely as he crouched down, unzipping the brown boots on Peter’s feet that were practically black now.

‘Yeah, they’re upstairs in Morgan’s room. Shuri arrived a little earlier, that’s why there’s a Wakandan jet in the garden.’ The older man told him while tugging off the boots, leaving Peter in his semi-wet socks.

The teen frowned at the mention of the jet, loosening the grip he had on his own waist a bit as he started to warm up.

‘I didn’t notice it. Probably too dark outside.’

Tony nodded, standing again and gesturing for Peter to follow him.

Led upstairs to Tony’s bedroom, Peter was still shaking from the cold but the chill in his bones had eased, allowing him to move without fear of any ice-cold muscles giving him pain.

He memorised the route to Tony’s room without even thinking about it, tracking his footsteps until they reached a white door with a selection of very tasteful purple letters stuck onto it to spell out ‘Daddy’. He raised an eyebrow at it as Tony opened the door and he let out a small, fond laugh.

‘Yeah, Morgan decorated it for me. She put her name on her own door and thought I deserved to have my name on my door as well.’

‘Cute.’ Peter smiled, timid as he was led into the average-sized room.

He gazed around at the decoration of the inside, seeing plain ivory walls with each skirting board lined by dark red roses. There was a set of hanging picture frames on the wall across from the bed, all filled with photos of Morgan and a few of Tony with Natasha before her death. Back when everyone was alive, and Loki had been the worst of their problems.

Peter wandered over to the pictures with curiosity, finding another picture with the original six Avengers underneath the ones of him and Natasha. Tony was grinning so big in all of the photos that Peter had a hard time believing he had ever fought with Steve or Clint on the other side of a useless war. The way his eyes were even brighter in the photos with just Natasha made his heart break a little, and took him back to the moment Tony realised no matter how hard he prayed when he snapped his fingers, she still wasn’t coming back. That realisation had been the start of a truly broken man.

‘Pete, come here, you’re soaking my carpet.’ He heard the man’s voice from behind him and nodded, padding over to him.

Tony was holding a large towel, larger than any towel Peter had ever seen before, and he wrapped it around the teen, rubbing his arms to warm them up somewhat.

‘Okay, I’m going to leave you to dry off and get dressed. I’ll put your stuff in the dryer since the bag is wet too, you can wear my clothes for now.’ The older told him with a kind smile, pointing to the hoodie and sweatpants that were sitting on the bed beside them.

Peter nodded, his wet curls throwing water droplets onto Tony’s shirt, before he was left alone to get ready. He dried his hair first, uncomfortable with the feeling of it sticking to his forehead, and stripped off his wet shirt, drying underneath.

Picking up the hoodie Tony had left him, he discovered it was his old MIT jumper, almost as small as Peter and smelling like the cabin he was in. It comforted the teen, the idea that he would be wearing his mentor’s old clothes, and he slipped it on over his head, relishing in the warmth and dryness of the fabric.

His jeans were next, sticky as they were and difficult to get down off his legs. Shoving at the wet fabric until it was bunched at his feet, Peter sighed, tugging them off. The sweatpants left behind for him were big, definitely bigger than his own trim waist, another reminder of how small in stature he was compared to Tony.

He stayed in his own socks that had dried while he changed, before padding back downstairs with his wet clothes in his arms.

‘Tony?!’

‘In the kitchen, Pete!’ The deep voice of his mentor met his ears in reply, making Peter scuttle along in the direction of Tony’s presence, finding him filling a round of colourful plastic cups with orange liquid.

‘Uh… where should I put my stuff?’ The teen asked, awkward now since he didn’t remember where the dryer actually was.

‘There’s a basket beside the sink, I’ll stick the stuff in later for you. Orange juice?’

Peter glanced at the cups and took a second before shaking his head, shuffling over to the man to put his clothes in the basket. Tony’s eyes seemed to follow him as he approached, making his face flush more than it already had from the cold.

‘Feeling better?’

‘Feeling less cold.’ The teen responded with a smile, sitting up on one of the bar stools and taking the mug of tea Tony had made him earlier, sipping the drink and wrapping his fingers around the ceramic of the mug to warm up some more.

‘Kids! Juice!’

As soon as Tony called on the seven-year-olds, the hoard of three children came running in, Shuri trailing behind them with bright pink lipstick on that was smudged around the edges. Peter couldn’t help the snort that left him at the sight, earning a middle finger from twenty-three-year-old who perched beside him, taking one of the cups.

‘Nice makeup.’

‘Fuck you, spider boy.’ She rolled her eyes, shoving his shoulder with a laugh when he pointed out the assault of red nail polish on her fingers.

Morgan Ho Stark could watch Finding Nemo on repeat for the rest of her life and never get bored, as Peter was informed in a matter-of-fact tone while lying on the couch with the kid in his lap. His legs were crossed over Shuri’s who lay on the other side of the couch, her eyes almost drooped shut as the sleepover pressed on to near midnight.

Victor and Zumi were asleep on the other two couches, curled up in Captain America and Pikachu pyjamas respectively, and Tony was passed out on the floor, letting out a snore every so often which awoke Shuri from her half-asleep state each time.

The little girl sitting on his lap was dropping into a slumber too, her head swaying back and forth as she tried her best to stay awake. Eventually, she gave up, lying down in the crevice between the couch and Peter’s chest, and laying her head on his shoulder.

‘You tired, Morg?’

Morgan shrugged, still trying to defeat sleep as she snuggled into him. The room was quiet other than the occasional snore from Tony and Shuri, and the seven-year-old whispered in the dark of the room, only illuminated by the rolling credits of Finding Nemo on the tv screen.

‘Daddy missed you a lot.’

Peter frowned at that, knowing exactly what she meant but brushing it off to keep her from worrying about her dad too much. He stroked her hair away from her eyes gently.

‘What do you mean, Morg? During the week?’

He felt her shake her head against his chest, and a breathy sigh left the girl’s lips.

‘I think he loves you. He talks about you like he used to talk about Mummy.’

The teen couldn’t help freezing a little at that, and he stroked through Morgan’s hair with slow fingers to lull her to sleep.

‘How do you feel about that?’ He asked in a soft tone, but the young girl was already asleep, breathing slow against Tony’s jumper that he was still wearing.

Peter sighed, relieved for the most part that he didn’t have to have a conversation with Morgan about her dad’s feelings for him. It was encouraging though, to hear her thoughts, and his eyes drifted to Tony snoring on the floor. He let himself smile a little, wondering what would happen the next day as he drifted to sleep too.


	8. Full Stomachs & Burnt Cookies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!
> 
> This is a day late and I'm so sorry T^T
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Remember to check out Tumblr @crystallinecrimsonmoth for updates.
> 
> Love to you all :3

When Peter woke the next morning, there was a thick blanket wrapped around him and Morgan on the couch, tucked around them like a human burrito. He frowned at the sight of it, not remembering putting it there, and just as quickly realised that Morgan wasn’t in his arms anymore.

Looking around the living room, he saw that everyone had disappeared, and heard the clatter of ceramic dishes in the kitchen. Frowning deeper, he shifted off the couch and stood up on legs shaky from sleep.

Stumbling through into the kitchen, he rubbed his eyes, smiling when he saw Tony making breakfast with everyone else perched around the dining table.

'Morning, web-head.' Shuri teased from her seat between Morgan and Zumi, both of the little girls showing her their drawings while they drank whatever was in the mugs beside them.

“Good morning, your highness.” Peter shot back, sticking his tongue out at her before sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, smiling at Tony.

After hearing what Morgan had told him the night before, he was much happier that morning, and intended to do his best to find out if she had been telling the truth. He watched Tony flip a pancake with such ease, the muscles flexing under his flesh arm. The sight did things to his insides, making his stomach twist with the need and want to have those arms on him.

Their dynamic felt somewhat like a wolf and lamb now that they were both older, or at least it felt like that in Peter’s head. Tony was a different person now that Peter wanted to get to know. He was as strong as he’d been when they first met, with a new hair colour and a mechanical arm, but all the same, he was back to being Tony. Even if he wasn’t Iron Man anymore, Peter still wanted those arms around him…

‘Peter!’

‘What?! What? What happened?’ The teen bounced back into reality to see Tony staring at him with a raised eyebrow, holding his spatula.

The man seemed to find his distraction cute as he let out a low chuckle, pointing the spatula at a plate of pancakes on the kitchen island in front of him.

‘You want syrup on those?’

Peter stared dumbly at Tony for a moment, mouth agape as he tried to focus on what the man was saying, still distracted. When he processed what he’d said, he nodded quickly, taking the syrup that Tony handed him and looking down at the plate.

‘Tony, there’s like ten pancakes here.’

Tony shrugged at what Peter said like the ten pancakes were totally normal.

‘Yeah, eat up. You want some coffee?’ The man asked casually, pulling out some mugs to make coffee for the only two people in the cabin that actually drank it.

Peter frowned, annoyed that Tony wasn’t understanding his point about the pancakes and ignoring his question about coffee.

‘I don’t need ten pancakes, Tony!’

‘Actually, you do. I had FRIDAY run your medical specifications earlier and you, Peter Parker, with all your freaky spider-powers, need at least twenty thousand calories a day to keep yourself at a normal weight. I imagine that’s probably why you were so skinny when you showed up at my door the first time last week.’ Tony explained, switching on the coffee press, and then going back to the pancakes.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed deeper at that from confusion. He hadn’t realised that. After he gave up Spider-Man, he just didn’t need to keep his weight up anymore, so he forgot about consuming enough food to stay an average weight.

‘Oh… well, thank you for figuring that out.’ He smiled shyly at Tony who nodded, shifting more pancakes onto smaller plates.

‘Kiddies, Shuri, breakfast time!’ He called to the others who were perched around the dining table, and soon three little kids and one tired-looking young woman were around the kitchen island, sneaking their plates away along with the other bottles of syrup that Tony had left out.

‘How many syrup bottles do you have?’ Peter let out a little laugh at the five different maple containers, raising an eyebrow at the older man who laughed too.

‘Enough to feed a family of forty, I think. Steve and Bucky come over quite a lot to eat me out of house and home.’ He smiled at the teen, sitting beside him at the kitchen island and starting to eat his own food.

The younger man froze up a little when Tony sat beside him, his head swimming as the smell of Tony’s dark cologne hit him. The cinnamon and sandalwood notes mixed with his addiction to coffee and the motor oil from his mechanic work – it was all intoxicating.

He tried to breathe in and out normally, not wanting to give his feelings away, and asked another question instead.

‘So, Steve and Bucky come over?’ He was curious about that.

Still remembering a time when he had to help Tony fight against Steve and Bucky in an attempt to imprison them, it was strange to now realise that they were friends and ate breakfast together. He hadn’t seen them interact much during the Battle of Earth but assumed it happened in the time that Peter was avoiding Tony. Maybe Tony and Bucky were best friends now despite what happened to his mentor’s parents.

‘Yeah, they come over here after training, and sometimes I help with their superhero shit too. Fixing Cap’s shield, maintaining Bucky’s arm when Shuri’s too busy to do it. Me and Bucky bonded over the arm thing.’ Tony replied with a smile, wiggling his vibranium fingers with ease as he used them to pick up his coffee mug, taking a sip.

Peter nodded, watching Tony’s fingers move like flesh in amazement. He sipped his own coffee in the silence of the kitchen as everyone ate, soon digging into his pancakes and ripping into the food like a sabertoothed tiger. He was starving, his stomach grumbling loudly now that he had acknowledged his hunger, and he ate with a ferocity unchallenged in the human world. Not even Steve Rogers ate as fast as Peter.

‘Good pancakes?’

He heard Tony’s faint voice in the haze of his hunger, lifting his head to give him a brief nod and smiling through a mouthful of pancake before going back to eating.

Peter was sure he heard Tony laugh while he was eating but he didn’t let that distract him, polishing off all the pancakes with a satisfied sigh in approximately ten minutes of purely horrific and feral eating.

When he was done, he swallowed it all down with his coffee, smiling brightly at Tony who stared at him with an expression that looked almost fearful.

‘What?’

‘You ate pretty fast. Hungry, then?’ He chuckled and Peter found himself blushing from embarrassment, nodding a little before staring back into his coffee mug.

The man let out another laugh.

‘I’m not judging, kiddo, don’t worry. Glad you enjoyed my cooking.’

The teen smiled a little at him, nodding in response and gathering enough bravery to kiss his cheek again.

‘Thank you for breakfast.’ He murmured, still embarrassed but feeling a little better now that Tony had laughed with him rather than at him.

Tony seemed to hesitate at the kiss to his cheek, before he was smiling back at Peter, standing up from his seat once his food was finished and going to the sink.

‘Once you’re done with your food, kids, put your plate in the dishwasher. Ask Peter and Shuri to open it though, I don’t want any accidents.’ He chuckled, ruffling Peter’s hair as he passed by him to reassure the teen.

‘I’m going to shower, Peter’s in charge.’ He told the group before disappearing upstairs with a bounce in his step.

Peter watched him leave with sad eyes, a little disheartened by his disappearance, but his attention was quickly diverted back to the people around the dining table when Morgan expressed that they should make cookies.

‘Morg, maybe that’s not such a good idea-’

‘Shame on you, Peter Parker, it’s a great idea! I bet your dad has all the ingredients too, come on.’ Shuri grinned at Morgan and picked her up off the seat, leading all three kids to the kitchen.

She smiled at Peter as they came into the kitchen.

‘It’ll be fine, we’re adults, they have supervision.’ She argued with a wide grin, letting the kids go to the cupboards to find the ingredients they needed.

‘If we set Tony’s cabin on fire, I’m blaming you.’

Shuri rolled her eyes, sliding the eggs out of the fridge.

‘We won’t set the cabin on fire, Peter.’

Boy was she wrong.

An hour after the decision was taken to make a batch of cookies, Tony had wandered downstairs, feeling much better after jerking out his frustration with his hand and letting out a little moan of Peter’s name where the teen couldn’t hear him.

Entering the kitchen, he blanched at the sight of Peter in a pair of the shortest booty shorts he’d ever seen in his life, barely covering the swell of his pale cheeks and showing off the long, lithe legs the teen was now sporting as an older version of the awkward teen Tony had met eight years before.

He tried not to make his presence known at first, moving quietly to the fridge, but he should have guessed that the kid’s spider senses would pick up his vibrations as his head lifted, brown eyes landing on Tony.

‘Hey, Tony.’

‘Hey, kid, where are the others?’

Peter shrugged, sipping the new cup of coffee by his hand.

‘Shuri’s showing them the jet. Morgan’s apparently a sucker for fancy technology and she’s officially disowned you as the coolest genius ever.’ He grinned at him, chocolatey eyes bright as he looked up at him from where he was bent over the kitchen counter.

Tony nodded slowly, still distracted by the sight of Peter’s ass on display for his roaming eyes. He gulped, his new feelings for the kid getting worse as he watched him.

‘Are you okay, sir?’

The man nodded, barely listening to the teen as he boiled the kettle to make his own coffee. He couldn’t help putting his hands on Peter’s waist when he passed by to get the coffee grounds, pressing his lips together to suppress the groan threatening to escape when he did. Fuck, the young hero had such a slim figure. Whatever god that was controlling him was having a really big joke at his expense.

Remembering that his hands were on Peter’s skin, Tony shook himself out of his stupor, letting go and moving onto the cupboard. He listened to the teen let out a little sigh, then sniffed the air, smelling sugar and chocolate.

‘You made cookies. Can I try one?’ He grinned, teeth glinting under the kitchen light as he looked to the oven.

He watched as Peter’s cheeks flushed at the question and then the oven timer was going. The teen got the oven gloves quickly, slowly opening the oven and panicking when the kitchen started filling with smoke and the alarm went off.

‘Oh my god, shit, I’m so sorry, Tony!’ The young brunette was already apologising as he set the tray of half-burnt cookies on the cooling rack.

Tony grimaced at the sight of the burnt cookies but then he saw tears in Peter’s soft brown eyes, his heart breaking at the sight he’d only seen a few times, and he picked one up with his metal hand.

‘You don’t have to eat that, we’ll make more!’ Peter argued when he saw the cookie in Tony’s hand, but the man was already taking a bite from the cooler edge, licking his lips as he chewed and grinned down at Peter.

‘Delicious.’ He lied, kissing the teen’s cheek softly in a moment of bravery and taking another bite, watching as a bright smile spread on his face.

The expression only caused Tony to fall harder for the young man, and he gave him a smile back.

‘Let’s make some more, shall we?’


	9. Kisses & Regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all and welcome to Chapter 9 which took way too long for me to finish!
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, and please remember to check out Tumblr @crystallinecrimsonmoth <3

The next time Peter saw Tony after the cookie incident was much more embarrassing and cheek-burning.

When the second batch of cookies came out perfectly, he and the others had settled in the living room with a movie playing. Morgan had picked out The Little Mermaid with a giant grin on her face, grabbing Shuri’s hand and dragging her down to the nest of pillows they had created on the ground, where she perched herself on the young woman’s lap. Peter had just laughed at the sight; glad the little girl had found someone else to attach to when he wasn’t around.

‘Daddy, come watch with us!’ She had pleaded with Tony, but the man shook his head, giving his daughter’s hair a soft kiss.

‘Daddy can’t, my little demon, I’ve got work to do upstairs. I promise I’ll tuck you in before bed though.’ He smiled, petting her hair before disappearing upstairs to wherever he was going.

So there Peter sat for the next hour, comfortably sidled up beside Shuri and the kids who attached to him like barnacles on the bottom of a boat. Victor, with all his hero-worship of the teen, had plonked himself down on his knee, eyes bright as he leaned back against his chest.

‘Comfortable, Mr Victor?’ Peter laughed, poking the boy’s cheek to make him giggle and nod.

For the hour that he sat there, the teen couldn’t get the cookie incident out of his head, the feeling of Tony’s smooth and calloused hand alike setting his nerves on fire the more he thought about it. Cold metal on his skin was something he never thought would make him so hot under the collar, but it did. Tony’s hand did. The calloused fingertips of a mechanic had gripped the other side of his waist with such a gentle touch too that the texture had sent shivers up his spine, only a weak breath leaving him when the older man finally let go.

Peter was willing to admit that he wanted more. He wanted Tony to tighten his grip and make bruises appear on his skin. Father figure or not, the teen needed the man to touch him again.

Fuck, now he had to go to the bathroom.

Shifting around a bit where he sat, he nudged Victor, only to find the boy fast asleep on his lap. He sighed, lifting him off and making sure the kid was comfortable on the floor of duvets and pillows before he snuck off in the dark to the bathroom.

The bottom one was locked, much to his discomfort, occupied by Morgan who informed him about the bathroom on the top floor. After living so long in an apartment with only one toilet, Peter had become accustomed to waiting outside the door when May was in there, so he was thankful that he wouldn’t have to burst this time before getting to pee.

He wandered up the carpeted stairs, trying to be quiet so he didn’t wake Victor or the others in the living room, and following the directions Morgan had given him. Third door on the right. It was unlocked, a fact that filled him with delight that he would finally get relief from his bladder full of hot chocolate and apple juice, and he twisted the handle to enter, not even considering that someone could be in there without having locked the door. That just didn’t happen in May’s apartment, ever, so why would it happen here? He was definitely wrong to open that door.

As soon as it swung open, Peter was greeted with the sight of Tony Stark in a low-hanging towel and a straight razor to his throat, shaving away the excess hair that interfered with his usual beard design. The teen noticed the moment that Tony spotted him in the mirror, the jolt of his vibranium hand and the cut it left on his neck giving him away.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say, before Peter spoke up, his need to pee too great to let attractive older men distract him. Then Tony interrupted his train of thought.

‘You need something, kid?’

Peter froze, no idea what to say. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, Tony’s eyes pinning him down to the spot he stood in. He’d been so sure of himself seconds before, his desperation clear in the way he stood with his legs practically crossed over, and despite the dark gaze of the man boring into his skull, Peter managed to speak.

‘I uh… I need to pee, and Morgan’s in the toilet downstairs.’ He admitted, a shy blush creeping up his neck and flooding his cheeks with blood when Tony just smiled at him.

‘Sure, kid, don’t let me get in your way. Go ahead, you look like you need it.’ The man gave out a deep chuckle that had Peter’s body shaking the same way his hands had done earlier.

The teen froze a little when he realised what Tony had said though, and he rubbed the back of his neck, already feeling awkward.

‘You mean like… pee while you’re standing there?’ He asked, his voice coming out in more of a high-pitched squeak like it used to be when he was still in high school.

He was embarrassed, unsure of whether he’d read Tony’s words wrong – even though he couldn’t think of another meaning for what he’d said – and he relaxed only briefly when the man laughed, another low, fond chuckle leaving the lips that Peter wanted to kiss so badly.

‘Yeah, Pete. Haven’t you ever peed in the same room as another guy before? Public toilets?’ He smiled at the teen who shrugged, entering the bathroom slowly.

‘Well… yeah. But there’s a wall between you. You can’t see… things.’ He muttered, feeling even shyer as Tony’s two fingers ushered him closer to the black toilet beside the sink he was in front of.

‘I won’t bite you, Peter. Now pee before you explode.’ The man smiled, stepping to the side a bit when Peter opened his jeans, finally getting the chance to relieve his full bladder.

Tony didn’t look, obviously. He wasn’t a pervert preying on young men. But he would spend the rest of the night thinking about how innocently frightened Peter looked when he suggested he pee with the man standing next to him.

Honey-glazed eyes had looked at him with such terror and awkwardness that it had made Tony laugh out loud, which probably made the teen feel worse, but regardless, Peter had waddled his way over to him with the desperate need to pee making his legs wobble.

‘Fancy toilet.’ The younger had expressed when he finally emptied his bladder, pushing the flush handle down and turning to Tony with the intent of washing his hands.

The man hadn’t ever thought of the toilet as fancy, he just thought it looked nice with the black and white design of the bathroom when he started decorating the house, but when he really thought about it, he was surprised Peter hadn’t been gushing about the house for the whole two days he’d been living in it.

Tony wouldn’t say the kid was poor, because he lived a nice life with his aunt in their little Queens apartment, but their home did what it said on the tin. It was a little Queens apartment with basic, comfortable furniture, and an array of family photos stuck up in different corners of each room. It was quaint and cosy, but it wasn’t the kind of home Tony would ever settle himself in.

So he imagined that the decadent furnishings he’d added to his comfortable cabin in the woods were quite a step up for Peter, and his swooning over the black and white marble toilet was the least amount of gushing that he expected from the kid.

‘Yeah. Most toilets are just white ceramic. Thought it looked good with the bathroom colour scheme.’ He smiled at him, shrugging, which seemed to make Peter smile too.

‘I like it.’ The teen smiled back, and Tony moved back away from the sink so he could wash his hands, drying his face with a towel.

As he moved behind him to put the towel back on its hook, he curled his hands around his slim waist again, his flesh fingers slipping under the hoodie Peter was wearing to touch his soft, warm skin underneath and gripping a little tighter.

He stayed like that for as long as possible, relishing in the few seconds that he could touch Peter without making the kid uncomfortable or weirding him out, and then let go, moving on to put the towel up on the hook.

‘Tony?’

‘Hm?’

The man turned around to face him when he said his name, still struggling with his own thoughts about the teenager, and froze when soft lips met his, moving without reciprocation for a few seconds before Tony managed to kiss back.

For a moment, everything in his mind blacked out, and the older man found himself pinning the kid to the wall, kissing him with rough movements. He’d wanted to do it since he saw the kid after two years apart, he wanted to do all of it, so he couldn’t control his desire as he kissed Peter harder. He was desperate to touch the boy, run his hands all over him, make him moan, but then he actually did moan, and the stark reality of what was happening hit Tony like a tidal wave.

He pulled out of the kiss, shrugging off Peter’s hands the best he could and stepping away from him, his heavy pants of breath equalling the young brunette’s in front of him.

They stared at each other for a moment before Tony managed to speak, barely able to get out the right words with how out of sorts he felt from the kiss.

‘I’m sorry, Pete, I shouldn’t have done that.’ He sighed, hating the hurt look that washed over the young man’s face.

‘But I initiated the kiss.’

‘I shouldn’t have kissed you back, Peter.’

‘Why?!’

‘Because I’m old enough to be your father!’ Tony yelled without meaning to, his stress about the situation making him lash out at the one person he wanted more than anything.

Peter’s eyes were watering when he brought himself to look at the teen, and Tony regretted his whole life at just the sight of his tears.

‘But you kissed back. You wanted to kiss me.’

‘It doesn’t matter what I want, Pete, I’d be taking advantage of you-’

‘-but I want you to take advantage! I want you, Tony, please…’ The boy approached him again, deft fingers reaching for his face to pull him closer into another kiss.

Tony groaned, kissing back briefly, and wanting to give in so bad it hurt, but he pulled away anyway, keeping his hands on Peter’s shoulders so he couldn’t   
go for his lips again.

‘You don’t know what you want. This is a mistake, Pete.’ He insisted, keeping his eyes averted from his and sighing out of relief when the teen finally let go, the door slamming behind him as he left the bathroom.

Tony groaned, leaning against the wall. Everything was so fucked up – he needed a distraction.

Heading to his bedroom, he got dressed before calling Sam and Steve’s shared apartment, smiling when the other end of the line picked up and Sam’s girlfriend, Jingfei, answered.

‘Hi, Tony.’

‘Hey, Jing. How are you?’

‘I’m good, what about you? How’s Morgan doing?’ The woman replied, optimistic and cheery as ever, and it made Tony smile more despite the situation he was in with Peter.

Sam and Jingfei had been a couple for six months, and in that relatively short space of time, Tony had warmed up to the new non-superhero edition to their group quite well. Jingfei was kind, sweet, and most of all, she was always interested in how Tony was feeling. He liked that about her.

‘I’m feeling alright, and Morgan’s good, she’s having a sleepover with her friends right now. Are Sam and Steve there?’ He got down to the bedrock of his intention, not wanting to be rude but also knowing he only had a few hours of free time before he had to put everybody to bed.

A sigh came over the phone as Tony assumed the younger woman handed the phone to someone else in the room, Steve’s voice coming over the speaker.

‘What’s up, Tony?’

‘I want to drink and Rhodey’s in Iran on a mission. Are the boys free?’

‘Hell yes, the boys are free! I’ll call Buck!’ He heard Sam’s voice in the distance and laughed along with Steve, nodding.

‘Alright, I’ll see you guys in a bit. Bring alcohol.’

‘Why are we drinking, Tony?’ Steve’s concerned voice chimed in before he hung up.

Tony sighed and shook his head. That was far too much to explain over the phone.

‘I’ll let you know when you get here.’


	10. Death By Wizard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost got this finished last night, and then I passed out, so here it is today!
> 
> Comment, kudos and subscribe if you're enjoying this story :3 Check out Tumblr@crystallinecrimsonmoth for my links.
> 
> Enjoy your day xx

Tony groaned as he woke up the next morning, a headache splitting through his mind and only adding to the discomfort of the sun from the open curtains blinding his eyes. It was early, he could figure that much out as he huffed out a breath, turning in the other direction to get away from the sunlight.

Nuzzling into his pillow once he was turned around, Tony sighed, relaxing, until he felt something move on the other side of the bed, making his eyes shoot open. When he saw the familiar brown waves of the former Winter Soldier on the adjoining pillow, he bolted upright from where he lay, barely managing to suppress his scream of surprise.

Bucky didn’t seem to stir from the movement, his face only burying deeper into the pillow underneath his head, so Tony gulped, slowly shifting out of the bed, and cursing himself internally when he realised he was completely naked.

Getting up only made his headache worse from the hangover of the night before, and as he fumbled to pull his sweats on, he almost fell over from the nausea it caused.

Sneaking downstairs was easier, which he was very thankful for, as he padded into the living room with as light a foot as he could. The kids, including Peter, were all still passed out on the floor, with pillows and duvets strewn all over the place, and Sam and Steve had lost consciousness on the bar stools in the kitchen, beer cans covering almost every inch of the tiled floor and the counter they were asleep on.

Tony sighed, knowing he’d probably be alone in cleaning up that mess, and started up the coffee machine. As the scent of fresh-brewed coffee wafted into the nostrils of his two half-dead friends, their heads moved in a sign of waking up, eventually lifting to look at the older of the three men.

‘Jesus, what time is it?’

‘9 am. I’m making coffee to wake us up.’

Sam nodded, yawning, and leaning back in the stool, looking around.

‘Where’s Buck?’

Tony groaned at the mention of the younger man’s name, covering his face with his hands, and leaning his elbows on the counter. The kitchen was quiet for a moment before Steve spoke up.

‘What happened, Tony?’

‘I think I slept with Bucky.’ He admitted, regret in his tone as he looked up at his friends, seeing both sets of eyes widen at him.

Fuck, he regretted everything. He regretted every single thing about the night before other than his kiss with Peter. He should have kept kissing the boy, he should have focused on him all night rather than getting drunk and fooling around like a college frat boy with someone already in a relationship. He just hoped to god no one ever found out what he and Bucky had done other than the people in that room.

‘Good morning, gentlemen.’

Shit.

All three of the gang looked towards the door to see Stephen stepping through a portal, dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans like he wasn’t the most powerful sorcerer on earth and was just, well, a regular guy – other than the cloak around his shoulders. His scarred hands, usually covered by yellow dress gloves as part of his superhero look, were bare and crossed over his chest as he stared at the three of them, not looking very happy.

‘Hey, Stephen. Man, you look good in clothes like that. You should wear jeans more often; they do wonders for your ass.’ Sam chuckled from his position on the barstool, causing the taller man to roll his eyes.

‘Save it, tweety bird. I’m here for my drunkard partner, I assume the three of you know where he is?’ He raised an eyebrow at them, forcing Tony to break out of his blank stare and point to the stairs around the corner from the kitchen.

‘Yeah, he’s upstairs. Still sleeping though. You want some coffee while we wait for him to wake up?’

Stephen shook his head, walking into the kitchen and standing by the counter between Tony and the others.

‘I prefer tea.’

‘I’ve got that too, no problem.’ Tony smiled despite his fear of the man finding out what he did, getting a tea bag out and boiling some more water for the man as Sam and Steve started talking to him again.

The genius didn’t know what he was going to do. Bucky was in his bed, butt naked, with a used condom discarded on the floor of his bedroom somewhere – or at least he hoped to god there was – and now his boyfriend, who could easily lay Tony out in a split second now that he had no suits to his name, was standing in his kitchen with zero knowledge of the fact that he had fucked his beloved White Wolf nine ways to Sunday the night before. How he was going to keep Stephen from finding out what had happened was a mystery at that moment.

‘Isn’t the cape a little much? It doesn’t really go with the casual vibe you’ve got going on.’ Tony was dragged back into the loop of the conversation as he poured water into Stephen’s mug, Steve already questioning him more while Sam rubbed his eyes, nursing the unenhanced hangover he shared with the mechanic.

Stephen shook his head at Sam’s question, tugging at the collar of the cape which only clung tighter to his body to avoid being abandoned, rubbing up against his neck like a cat looking for attention.

‘I don’t exactly decide when it attaches to me.’ He sighed, taking the tea Tony offered and sipping it.

The four of them loitered in silence for at least fifteen minutes, no one sure of what to say when Bucky wasn’t around to act as the bridge between his lover and his friends, until said Winter Soldier stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, dressed but with his hair standing up in all directions. He didn’t exactly look like he’d had an innocent night’s sleep.

Bucky rubbed his temples as he wandered over to the group, groaning from the headache caused by drinking more than the super serum could handle, and finally looked up when he smelled coffee.

‘What time is it- oh shit.’ His blue eyes widened at the sight of Stephen standing there, and Tony decided not to say a word as he slid a mug of coffee over to the younger man.

Stephen just stared back at Bucky; eyes narrowed from irritation.

‘Yeah, oh shit. I came back into our bedroom with tea for both of us and you had already run off on that motorcycle to drink with your Avengers gang. I was worried, James, you should have told me where you were going. Even a text would have helped!’

Bucky nodded, already looking beyond sorry as he approached the man who stood just an inch taller than him. The three others watched as he kissed him softly, stroking his thumbs over Stephen’s beard and giving him a smile so rare it was only ever directed at the sorcerer.

‘I’m sorry, I lost track of time. I should have texted you.’

The loving look they gave each other made Tony’s heart sink as he wondered what Bucky was thinking, knowing that he would have already figured out what they did together. He supposed that he would be used to lying so easily, having been a ghost for most of his life that needed to lie to get places he didn’t belong, but it surprised the older man just how smoothly he had lied to the one person he clearly cared about more than anyone else.

‘I’ll see you guys later, okay? We’re going home.’ Was all that Tony’s mind acknowledged as he tried to process everything that had happened that morning, sipping his coffee again while the two lovebirds disappeared through a portal.

The man cringed to himself as he thought about everything he’d done in the past thirteen hours, all the mistakes he’d made, and the worst one that stuck out was still rejecting Peter. He knew it was the right thing to do by rejecting him, after all, he was far too young to be dating someone who was practically a pensioner, but protecting him was not worth the hurt look on his face.

Now he’d slept with Bucky, potentially ruining another relationship. He felt like he was turning into his thirty-year-old self again.

‘Morning, Peter.’ He heard Sam’s voice speak through his thoughts, looking up to see the tired teen wandering into the kitchen, pouring himself what was left of the coffee in the pot and then looking up at the three of them, his brown eyes still glazed over with sleep.

‘Morning, guys.’ Peter gave the group of friends one of his happy smiles, looking like a content puppy, then his eyes drifted to Tony.

‘Hope you had a good night.’ He chirped, sounding like he meant all of them, but the look that he gave Tony told the man that he knew exactly what he’d done with Bucky the night before, and he realised he’d just made everything so much worse by drinking that much alcohol.


	11. Wally's Woofers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, peeps, enjoy! xx
> 
> Remember to check out Tumblr @crystallinecrimsonmoth :3

Peter left the cabin after a very silent lunch later that day. Morgan had tried to engage him and Tony multiple times with conversation but they only gave short answers, both clearly not wanting to acknowledge what had happened the night before and what Tony had done after it.

The man looked sad when he left, like he felt bad for leaving Peter in the dirt like that after what was arguably a very good kiss. He deserved to feel bad, the young man concluded, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to kiss the frown away from his creased eyebrows and make everything better.

The teen left without a goodbye, only a wave to Morgan as he got in the taxi Tony had called for him and headed back to his and May’s apartment. It was raining outside but there was no longer any snow, just a grey drizzle of water falling from the sky. The weather was depressed, just like Peter apparently.

With relatively quiet roads, he got back to the apartment within the hour, greeted by the bouncing paws of Apricot as she ran at him with excitement. It cheered the boy up a lot, unsurprisingly, and he ruffled the dog’s fur for a good five minutes before standing up, smiling at May.

“Hey, how was your sleepover?”

Peter shrugged. He wouldn’t tell her about the kiss, she’d probably freak out about it, anyway.

“It was good. Shuri was there, so I wasn’t the only young adult.” He smiled, taking one of the cookies offered to him and sitting at the dining table, tucking into it.

May nodded with a kind smile, sitting beside him and eating one of the other cookies she’d just taken out of the oven.

“Good. Are you working at the shelter today?”

Peter nodded, wiping his mouth of crumbs as he ate.

“Yeah, but it’s only a five-hour shift. I’ll be home by dinner. How was your other date with Happy?”

May smiled at the question, clearly happy that he was interested. The younger had shown apprehension in the past about her moving on from his uncle, but he was coming around slowly, enjoying seeing his aunt so happy. It was better than the crying he used to hear from her bedroom in the middle of the night when she thought he was asleep.

“It was really good. We went to that new Korean place in Midtown, very nice food there.”

The teen nodded somewhat absentmindedly, already distracted by thoughts of the kiss he had shared with Tony the night before. He managed to come back from them quickly though when Apricot licked his hand, spinning around in a circle as if to warn him that it was almost time for work. Sometimes he swore that dog knew how to read the clock.

Sighing, he stood up, heading into his room to get changed so he wasn’t wearing pyjamas to work that day. He dressed himself in his usual uniform, the black and orange volunteer shirt pairing nicely with the only pair of skinny jeans that weren’t dirty in his wardrobe, then he slipped on his waterproof trainers since the boots were already soaked.

“Peter! I put some of the spare cookies in a bag for you to take to work!”

“Thanks, May!” He called back as he pulled on a dry hoodie, layering a waterproof jacket over it to avoid repeating the incident at Tony’s cabin.

“Be good at work, okay? Text me when you know what time you’re coming home.” May smiled when he skidded into the dining room, kissing her nephew’s cheek as he clipped on Apricot’s little black and orange jacket too.

The shelter had given them matching uniforms when Peter started taking the Australian shepherd to work and people mistook her for a shelter dog that they could adopt, and since the first day they wore the new gear, they looked like the perfect duo.

Heading downstairs onto the street with Apricot hot on his heels, Peter skipped out of the door, grimacing when a wave of water splashed down onto his head from the drainpipe above. So much for the waterproof jacket keeping him dry.

Pulling the hood up over his now wet head, the teen started on his way to Wally’s Woofers, the dog shelter he had been working at for over six months now. It was a nice little dog shelter. Holding thirty dogs at full capacity, with a few extra exceptions made if stray dogs had to sleep in the same pen to feel safe, it worked well as a re-homing centre and a training ground for armed forces dogs who needed agility skills.

Peter liked working there. He got to meet tons of new, friendly people, and every dog seemed to love him too, always wagging their tails when he approached. The young man thought it adorable, and he always scratched the ears of each dog when he gave them treats or entered their pen for a cuddle. Apricot didn’t mind the attention being diverted from her either, which was helpful when he had to take care of other pups in the shelter, as she simply followed Peter and licked the dogs who needed attention.

They were the perfect pair of volunteers, as Wally always said, and that’s why Peter had been offered the part-time position when the shelter got some extra money. He hadn’t wanted to accept it at first, worried that he might bankrupt Wally as a small business owner, but then more high-end training clients started to roll in, and both Wally and Peter were working five full days a week with business booming like it was.

The training clients were usually nice, but not always. Some came from the armed forces, and they were generally decent people, but then word started to get out about Wally’s Woofers, and the pair were getting money offers from show dog owners who dressed their animals in sequins and diamond necklaces, and made their fur look like a bad haircut all the time.

Peter didn’t mind them all that much. He just took care of the dogs. But there were a few who ground on his very last nerve. Despite dressing their dogs like clowns, there were owners who had the audacity to criticise him for wearing nail polish or what they deemed to be “feminine clothing”.

He didn’t care much though. He defended himself against anyone who insulted his style cause he didn’t believe in hating on anyone, regardless of how they dressed or if they wore make-up. Which is exactly why he had let Morgan paint bright purple onto his nails when the blue had started to chip off.

Peter had perched obediently on the little girl’s bed after breakfast time that morning, guiding her through the process of doing someone else’s nails and letting out a little laugh when the seven-year-old shushed him, getting on with the painting in silence. In truth, she’d done a decent job, and Peter had only had to wipe off a little bit of excess from his skin when she was finished.

It was a nice colour, he had thought when she chose it, and looking at his nails now, he realised it went surprisingly well with his uniform.

“Uh… hi?”

The teen jumped at the sound of a voice in front of the shelter reception desk, an accompanying bark coming from Apricot, who had been half asleep on her dog bed for the past five minutes. They had been set up at the reception desk for fifteen minutes when the random woman showed up, a smile on her face as she tried to control the german shepherd wriggling around on the leash she was holding.

Peter smiled, sympathetic to her plight, and ran a hand through his hair as he replied.

“Hey, welcome to Wally’s Woofers. How can I help you?” He chirped, appearing enthusiastic as always.

He didn’t remember any training appointments that day but maybe he hadn’t seen it in the book. The woman let out a huff of a laugh as she wrangled her dog to sit, smiling back at Peter.

“My name’s Ashley, I booked a training session for my dog, Madison. She’s six months old now but hasn’t calmed down much. I live alone so I thought I’d get professional help while she’s still trainable.” Ashley sighed, her voice full of both hope and doubt as she stood straight once Madison settled down.

“Of course, we can help! Wally’s Woofers are the best dog trainers in New York if you don’t count the fancy ones. Come out to the training grounds, I can lend you an umbrella if you don’t have one!” Peter grinned, coming around to the front of the desk with some paperwork for her to fill out.

He watched as Ashley’s nervous smile turned into a brighter, more confident one, lighting up her pale face.

“Thank you! I’m Ashley, by the way. Did I already say that?” Her tone was still a little nervous, which made Peter smile and shake his head all at once.

“You did already say that. I’m Peter, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, Peter.”

Peter led her out onto the training grounds with a brighter smile, enjoying her company so far. She didn’t seem like an unpleasant customer, and the lack of a pompous haircut on her dog gave him some indication of their potential to be friends.

The grounds weren’t wet, thankfully, which meant that the roof didn’t have another leak, but Peter was still wary as he led Ashley onto the sheltered grass to start training Madison.

“I’m glad you have a roof.” Ashley let out a laugh as they stood together with the dogs, and the other teen giggled, nodding.

“Yeah, so am I. Can you fill these out before we get started?” He grinned at her, starting the training session while Apricot and Madison ran about like idiots with each other.


	12. Fake Smiles & Broken Webs

Tony didn’t see Peter for over two weeks after their movie night and the awkward morning after. No communication, no appearances at the door, and as much as he was glad he wouldn’t have to face the music about his raunchy night with Bucky, it still concerned him that Peter hadn’t contacted the house. He missed him, and Morgan had clearly missed him too, since every time the phone rang or FRIDAY alerted them to someone being at the door, she always asked if it was Peter coming over to hang out.

It frustrated him a little that Peter had given up the Spider-Man mantle and therefore handed over the newest suit, but he discovered the day that the teen left the cabin that he hadn’t gotten rid of the first one that Tony made for him. He was able to connect to the body camera on the old red and blue spandex in order to track his former protege, finding it hanging up in the wardrobe that was open, giving him full view and audio of Peter’s bedroom.

Smaller than his, obviously, but Tony found it quite cosy. It had the same homey feel as the converted attic of the cabin, enclosed but with a pleasant atmosphere to it that made you feel comfortable. He hadn’t intended to stay on the video feed or keep the audio running at first, but he couldn’t help himself, keeping it up on the holographic screen beside his head while he worked in the lab.

Morgan was back home with Pepper so he had the house to himself, leaving him time to work on his projects and giving him the ability to stay up all night and drink as much coffee as he saw fit to keep himself awake. That was the best part of living alone and not having a partner to nag you about being healthy, and he took full advantage of it, sometimes staying up for forty-eight hours straight if that was what it took to finish a project.

He’d only been working for five hours the day that Peter came home with someone he didn’t recognise, both of them flopping down on the bed while giggling like children. Tony could hear two dogs barking somewhere else in the apartment, one of them presumably Apricot, as Peter and the girl beside him started talking.

Tony had always been a nosey person, watching Peter’s surveillance from missions and listening to his reports that he sent to Happy on the phone, but the appearance of this girl was making him nosey on a whole new level.

‘She would have cleared that jump if you hadn’t let Madison off the leash.’

‘I highly doubt it.’

‘She could have!’

He could see the way the girl rolled her eyes at Peter’s response from inside the wardrobe, the gesture finally distracting him from his work as he peered closer at the camera. The two teenagers were getting closer and closer to each other and it was making Tony growl under his breath as he watched them, his vibranium fist clenching on the surface of the table and trembling from frustration.

‘You’re pretty.’ The girl smiled at Peter now, making him grin and shuffle closer to her until their noses were touching, his hand finding her waist and causing Tony’s teeth to clench.

‘So are you.’

The older man hated that he’d fucked up so bad with the younger man, regretting ever rejecting him as he witnessed the two of them get closer and closer to kissing. His rage didn’t lessen any when they eventually did kiss and he watched them for a moment before slamming his hand down on the keyboard, turning the screen off.

He groaned into his hands, rubbing his eyes and trying to get the image of Peter kissing the girl out of his head even though it felt like the memory was burned into his mind, forcing him to confront his feelings for the teen. He hated that in such a short space of time, Peter had managed to worm his way back into his heart and take over his mind, distracting him from everything else.

Sleeping with strangers hadn’t helped any, and sleeping with Bucky seemed to no longer be an option after the morning he’d left. The former Winter Soldier hadn’t answered any of his messages, nor had he come to the house to hang out since the incident, so Tony was left alone to the dark recesses of his mind, imagining scenarios where he could kiss or touch Peter without the guilt of being too old or too controlling for him.

Being with someone whose hair was already turning grey at the roots when you were just a young sprite starting out in the world - that wasn’t any way to live and Tony didn’t want to put the teen through that.

So he tried not to focus on Peter after seeing that video footage of him and his new possible girlfriend, his metal fist clenching as he forced himself to concentrate on the adjustments for the car he was fixing up two days from then. It was an easy enough job, not too much needed changing and it was mostly just an air-conditioning issue, but it was enough to distract him from his problems with Peter.

Another week passed before he had to confront Peter and all the lingering feelings he still had about him, and in that time, he had surveyed the teenager’s room every day to see if he could find any more information about his new girlfriend.

That’s what she appeared to be after a while, coming to his apartment almost every day and watching movies with him as their dogs lay in a shared bed on the floor.

Her name was Ashley Gengar, as he had discovered the second time she showed up and he told FRIDAY to do a facial recognition scan on her. Ashley Gengar, nineteen, studying at NYU to become a vet and currently working as an assistant in a free vet clinic in Midtown. Red hair, grey eyes, pale skin, just a little shorter than Peter - she was everything any teenage boy would want in a girlfriend, and now she was kissing the teenager that he wanted.

He watched them kiss, hold hands, cuddle, and he even had to turn off the video feed at Roadrunner speed when Peter’s hand snuck into her shorts and they had started fornicating like horny rabbits. Since then he had avoided that suit camera like the plague, never wanting to witness his Underoos doing anything like that ever again.

When Peter showed up two weeks after the incident with Bucky, who was still dodging his calls and messages and who had neglected to show up to their movie night with Sam and Steve, he had a big smile on his face, not appearing bothered by Tony’s face at all. He looked happy, like nothing had ever happened between them, and Tony hated the jealous feeling that coursed through him. He hadn’t realised how much Peter finding someone his own age would hurt him.

‘Hey, Tony. Is Morgan here? I thought I would bring Apricot over to hang out with her.’ The teen wandered in when Tony opened the door a little more, dropping his bag by the entrance and letting Apricot off the leash so she could sniff around.

Tony had to collect himself before he managed to respond, his muscles a little tense at the sudden appearance of the brown-haired boy. He shook his head, kneeling down beside Apricot who was jumping at him to get his attention and scratching behind her ears.

‘She’s with Pepper today, I get her tomorrow. Sorry to disappoint.’

He watched as Peter shrugged and sat down on the couch, letting out a soft yawn before focusing on him again.

‘Where’s Barnes? I half-expected to walk in and find you two going at it on the couch after what I heard at movie night.’

Tony flinched at the bitter tone of Peter’s voice, and suddenly he felt like seeing Morgan wasn’t the primary reason Peter had showed up at the cabin that day. He tried not to look upset over Peter’s attitude and shook his head, running both sets of fingers through Apricot’s fur as she licked his face.

‘Buck’s with Stephen, back at the Sanctum. We’re not a couple if that’s what you’re implying. We made a mistake.’ He explained, observing the way Peter’s shoulders tensed again and how his hands were trembling despite his calm face.

He said nothing else while the teen decided how he wanted to respond to that, focusing on scratching and rubbing Apricot who was enjoying all the attention she was getting. He pressed his nose against hers when she licked his face again, and the three-year-old dog’s tail only wagged faster, her paws standing up on his thighs to get closer for more attention. Tony cuddled her for so long that he barely heard when Peter got up from the couch and slipped past him, picking up his bag that still lay abandoned by the door.

‘Miles was having a problem with his web-shooters, so he brought the suit to me. I need help to fix it if you don’t mind.’ He spoke up as he pulled out the black and red nano-fibre suit, standing up from where he crouched and approaching Tony again with a casual smile.

From what Tony could tell from his body language and facial expression, Peter wanted to pretend the kiss between them had never happened, and Tony was quite happy to do that while they worked. He would deal with his feelings later.

‘Yeah, kiddo, let’s see what’s going on in there. We don’t need Spider-Man smashing his skull in because his webs fail.’ He smiled back at him, taking the suit and leading Peter downstairs with Apricot at their heels to the lab.

He slid a hand to the small of Peter’s back as he led him down, just for a small amount of contact, but the teen shrugged him off, making his flesh hand tense while Peter walked faster to get away from him and into the lab. He could admit that that hurt, but he tried not to let it show, focusing on fixing the new Spider-Man’s suit for the time being.


	13. Spying & New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so fricken long since I updated this, y'all, welcome back to the fold :3
> 
> Please, please, please comment if you enjoy it, I really miss interacting with nice folks like you xx

The two men worked on Miles’ suit all day, trying to alter the mechanisms of his web-shooters and the web fluid formula itself so that the teen would be safer.

Tony watched first-hand as Peter went over his calculations again and again, afraid that he had gotten something wrong. The younger man clearly cared about Miles as much as Tony cared about Peter, putting in all the extra work and effort to ensure he was safe while swinging around the streets of New York City. After a while, though, once all the possible web fluid formulas had been tested with Peter standing on the ceiling with his feet stuck down by them and the teen had finally agreed to let Tony put the same training wheels protocol on the new guy’s suit, Peter was passed out cold on the worktop.

From where he was waiting for the fabricator to weave the new tracking system into Miles’ suit, Tony could see drool peeking out of the corner of Peter’s mouth. His brown eyes were flitting around under his eyelids like he was dreaming. It made Tony wonder what about, and the part that kept convincing him that Peter loved Ashley more than him now was just making everything worse.

Sighing, the older man stood up and smacked Peter on the head on his way to the workshop entrance.

‘What?’ Came the teen’s groaned reply, making Tony huff a little before he brought himself to answer.

‘I’m making coffee. Do you want some? I assume you still drink it.’ He hadn’t meant for his reply to sound so snippy, but Peter’s groan reminded him far too much of that surveillance camera and what he had seen and heard Peter do.

He kept walking to the doors and hoped Peter would just give him a straight answer without forcing him to face his tone of voice or attitude, but he was wrong.

His hand had barely touched the surface of the door before the teen spoke up for himself.

‘Are you pissed at me for something?’

Tony stopped moving for a moment, thinking through his possible reactions to that question in his mind, before shaking his head, pushing open the door and continuing his way to the kitchen.

‘Tony!’

The older man still didn’t speak until he reached the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine after adding fresh grounds. He pulled out two mugs before leaning his hands on the countertop.

‘Why would I be pissed at you? You have a much better reason to be angry with me and we both know it.’

‘Yeah, we both do. So why are you acting as if I kicked you in the balls right now?’

‘Why don’t you ask your little girlfriend?’ Tony snapped, covering his face with his hands and sighing when he realised he’d just admitted his own crime.

Silence filled the kitchen, and he could hear both their breathing in the quiet. The frustration and anger coming off of Peter was palpable, scaring Tony into staying quiet.

‘So, you spied on me? You rejected me, slept with someone else while I was still in the house, and now you’ve spied on me? What happened, Tony? Did you regret what you did? Are you sorry for what you did with Bucky?’

The man’s heart broke when he spun to argue with the teen and saw tears spilling down his freckled cheeks. He’d hurt him so badly that two weeks had passed, and he was still a crying mess. He hated himself for that.

‘I am sorry, Pete, of course I’m sorry. I was stupid for doing what I did, and I do, I regret it so much, but I didn’t think that your feelings for me meant so little that you were willing to forget them for the chance to have sex with some girl-’

‘-don’t talk about her like she’s some cheap hook-up! She doesn’t deserve that, and she certainly doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this bullshit.’ Peter groaned, rubbing his temples and shaking his head, wiping his tears away while he leaned against the fridge.

Tony was quiet now, worried that maybe he’d messed up so badly that Peter wouldn’t care what he said, only that he was hurting the same way the teen had when he listened to Tony and Bucky hooking up above his head. Well, Tony’s heart was most assuredly broken the same way his protégé’s was.

‘Then why did you drag her into all of this?’

‘Because she fucking saw me!’ Tony’s ears rang with how loudly Peter yelled his reply, his shoulders tense while he waited for the boy to elaborate on what he had just blurted.

It took a few heavy breaths before Peter shook his head, letting out a laugh that sounded more hurt than amused which didn’t surprise Tony at all. The teen tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and shrugged.

‘You slept with Bucky because you didn’t want to burden me with the stress of dating a man old enough to be my father. Well, Tony, you burdened me anyway. You didn’t avoid it, you just forced me to be so insecure after what I heard you and Bucky do that I latched onto the first person who showed any interest in me or my feelings. It didn’t matter that Ashley was an innocent girl, a civilian, with no idea who I really am. Hell, it could have been Captain   
America offering to buy me ice cream and I still would have slept with him! Ashley doesn’t see me as a kid like you do, Tony, she sees me as an actual adult capable of making my own decisions. That’s why I like her, because she doesn’t do shit like spy on me having sex!’

Tony didn’t say anything, pouring coffee into both their mugs and then sliding one over to Peter once he had added milk and sugar for him. He leaned on his elbows, vibranium hand wrapped around the hot surface of his mug.

‘I do see you as an adult, Pete, but I met you when you were fifteen, for Christ’s sake! Every time I let my mind wander about how beautiful you are now that you’re all grown up or how badly I want to cuddle you in my bed at night and kiss you until you’re-’ He cut himself off before he said something he couldn’t take back, rubbing his hand over his face and shaking his head, meeting Peter’s wet, brown gaze.

‘My mind reminds me of that fifteen-year-old kid with daddy issues and an unhealthy case of hero worship. It scares me to think that you only feel this way about me because I somehow groomed you into thinking that way.’

The frown that descended on Peter’s face forced a long sigh out of Tony’s lungs and he shook his head, bringing his mug up to his lips and taking a small sip. The dark drink scalded his tongue and lips, causing enough of a spike of pain to get him to talk.

‘You really think I don’t care about you, Pete? You seem to live in this imaginary land where the press don’t exist and there are no social consequences for a nineteen-year-old dating a forty-nine-year-old. I’m an adult with thirty years more life experience than you.’

‘But I’m still an adult capable of making my own decisions. To hell with the consequences, Tony, I understand what they are, and I don’t care about them.’

Peter was closer now. He’d stood up, running a slim hand through his brown curls, and approaching Tony until he had the older man up against the counter. Tony hadn’t even noticed the position he was in until Peter’s hand rested on his scarred chest and brought him out of his thoughts.

The ex-superhero sighed into that touch, wanting so badly to give in right then and there but…

‘What about Ashley, Peter? I didn’t raise you to cheat and break girls’ hearts.’ He teased, lifting his fabricated hand to touch his cheek, the metal slowly cooling down from holding his mug.

The teen’s hand dropped forward onto Tony’s shoulder at the mention of the redhead. He could only hope that she would understand but he was expecting anger. He sent a glower up at his mentor.

‘You didn’t raise me at all.’ He returned with a laugh, stepping away from the man but leaning into the hand still on his cheek.

‘We’ll take it slow, alright? No one has to know until we’ve figured out that it works.’ Tony reassured the younger man, a grin spreading on his face when Apricot bounded over to them from her spread out position on the couch, searching for attention as she pressed her cold, wet nose up against Tony’s hand.

They both laughed at her attention seeking motions before Peter finally nodded, scratching behind his dog’s ears and then running a hand through his hair again while Tony smiled.

‘Yeah, we’ll take it slow.’ He agreed softly, smiling back at him.


	14. 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, friends :3 Please comment if you like it, I'm a lonely soul x
> 
> Enjoy!

‘Are you ever going to kiss me again?’

Tony and Peter were lounging on the couch with Morgan sitting between them when the teen leaned over her to whisper to the man.

Tony turned to look at him with widened eyes, both surprised at how forward the younger was being and worried that Morgan would hear what he said and start asking questions.

When the little girl made no sign of having heard what Peter whispered, her dark brown gaze still focused on the television, he shrugged to the teen, leaning closer to him and kissing his cheek with the small amount of calm and bravery he had around him.

‘I thought we were taking it slow.’ He pointed out, causing Peter to roll his eyes and run a hand through the man’s hair to make it less messy.

The action had Tony’s face turning just slightly redder than it had been already due to the heat of their squished situation on the couch.

‘I didn’t think innocently kissing was a scandalous sex act for you, sorry.’ The teen laughed softly, the sound causing molten feelings to course through Tony’s heart.

He lifted the hand resting across the back of the couch and touched Peter’s cheek with a feather-light motion.

Neither of them said anything but Tony could see the younger’s cheeks light up under the light of the tv in the dark before he turned back to focus on the film.

‘Maybe later then.’ He didn’t miss the little smile spreading on Peter’s face despite his sour tone.

‘Stop talking during the movie.’ Morgan complained from her seat in between them, sending a scathing glare up at her dad and leaning into Peter’s chest a bit more.

Tony froze up a bit when he realised she’d heard them talking, his relaxed attitude moving into panic mode in a split second. Sitting up properly on the couch, he stood up and stretched his arms above his head, not looking at either Peter or Morgan as he spoke.

‘Anybody want anything from the kitchen? I’m getting something to drink.’ He sighed, rubbing a hand over the scruff on his face as he shimmied his feet into the slippers on the ground.

‘Can you get me a juice box, Daddy? Orange?’ Morgan responded easily, smiling up at her dad who nodded, ruffling the little girl’s hair to make her whine and to distract her from the panic in his voice.

‘Of course, demon.’

Peter didn’t say anything in response to his question, so Tony just continued on his way to the kitchen, leaning his forearms on the counter and covering his face.

‘Fuck…’

He couldn’t believe he’d let Morgan hear him talking like that with someone that wasn’t her mother. He knew he’d had partners in the past that he’d blatantly flirted with in front of her, but she was older now and this was Peter.

Tony knew for a fact that the teen had been like a big brother to his daughter during the months he’d been too volatile to talk to. Morgan saw Peter as family, a relative, and on top of that she thought he was like her. A kid. What would she think about her old dad, who was reaching fifty, dating her older brother figure?

Groaning, the man rubbed his eyes and tried to breathe in and out slower. He had to calm the racing of his heart before he ended up having a full-blown panic attack.

‘Shit!’ He slammed his vibranium fist down against the counter underneath him, wincing when he heard the marble crack and looking down to see a fracture line running through the surface, the material dented and shattered where he had punched it.

Pepper would kill him for wrecking her countertops, even if she didn’t live in the cabin anymore, and he knew it would lead to questions from Morgan when she saw the loose shards of marble.

‘You’re an asshole, Stark.’ He muttered to himself, standing up straight and moving to the small side cupboard which he kept his hidden bottle of whisky in.

Forgetting for the moment about the juice box he was meant to be getting for Morgan, he poured some of the alcohol into a small plastic cup so he didn’t break anything else and downed the finger of whisky like it was a vodka shot.

He grimaced at the taste, disliking the burn it caused to his throat on the way down but pouring more anyway. Tony leaned on a different, unbroken portion of the counter and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

‘Fucking dick.’ He continued to mutter insults to himself, shutting his eyes and lifting his hand to down his new shot of burning malt.

A soft hand wrapping around his stopped him though.

The ex-superhero turned his head and opened his eyes slowly to look at Peter, feeling like he’d wrecked the teen’s hero worship of him just a little bit more with this scene.

Slowly but surely, his mask was cracking to reveal the broken man underneath again. He had done so well, getting sober, eating better, keeping a steady job, and making normal, sane friends via his projects. Now, with Peter’s return and all his new feelings for his former protégé, that progress was halting and falling off a fucking cliff. He felt like a disgusting creep for ever entertaining the idea of being in love with the teen, even if he was of legal age to decide what he wanted with a man as old as Tony.

Fuck, when did his attraction to Peter start becoming about how legal the younger man was?

‘What are you doing?’

Tony didn’t know what to say so he just put his mask back on, trying to glue it back together with a wide, false grin.

‘What do you mean?’

Peter’s hand was still wrapped around his, his big, bambi brown eyes staring up at Tony with such a hurt expression. The older man thought about how disappointed he must be – it was the same look as Pepper used to give him when he came out of his workshop with stale alcohol in an overgrown beard.

‘You know exactly what I mean. Pepper said she got rid of all the alcohol in the cabin after the night you drank yourself stupid with your buddies so where did you get the whisky? Why the fuck are you drinking?’ He sounded angry; the kind of worried angry Tony vaguely remembered being on the day of the ferry that got split in half.

The snappy tone of Peter’s voice made his head hurt though, so he went on the defensive, glaring down at the teen.

‘Don’t swear at me, kid, watch your mouth before I smack it.’

Peter let out a huffed laugh, ripping the pink cup from Tony’s hand and pouring the two fingers of whisky it contained into the sink.

‘You little shit, that whisky is worth more than your life!’

‘Get a grip of yourself, Tony, your daughter is in the other room! Do you really want her to lose her father again?’ He was yelled back at, but Peter was quieter about his anger, clearly not wanting to alert Morgan to their fight.

Tony growled at him, his walls raised now that the strength of the whisky was making his body warm. He had always been a lightweight when it came to whisky and a strong percentage of alcohol could wipe him out with a few mouthfuls if he wasn’t careful – which he rarely was.

‘You think just because I kissed you back in that bathroom that you control me now, huh? You’re nothing but a child, you don’t know how to look after anyone.’

‘Maybe I’m a child but I know the signs of a fucking addiction, you arrogant shit. I know you’re not okay and that all it takes is something like Morgan not liking who you’re dating to push you over the edge. That’s what happened, isn’t it?’ Peter’s voice was slowing down as he spoke to him, attempting to placate Tony before he got any worse.

The older man glared at him still, but his shoulders sagged a little when the teen figured him out and he nodded. He watched as his younger counterpart sighed at the silent confirmation and tensed up somewhat when Peter stepped forward and put a hesitant hand on Tony’s waist.

Soft pink lips touched his for the first time in two weeks, easing the tension in the man’s shoulders and causing him to melt into his new love. The pair kissed languidly, Tony’s hands eventually snaking around Peter’s waist and pulling him closer to his own body. All his stress melted away more than it ever had with Pepper, better than it ever had with any of his hook-ups.

Peter appeared to be the key to taking away his worry.

Pulling away eventually, Tony stared down into the teen’s eyes, feeling like he was gazing into his soul through the molten amber irises flecked with gold. He was so entranced by the young man.

He heaved out a now relaxed breath, smiling when Peter finally spoke, one of his pale hands coming up to rest on Tony’s chest.

‘I’m going to put Morgan to bed since she’s asleep in there already, then I’m putting you to bed next. You need rest.’

The older man nodded with a sly grin at the insinuation in Peter’s voice that he would be sleeping in the bed with him, before grabbing his wrist gently when he went to walk away.

‘I want to talk about how you know about addiction eventually too, alright?’

‘Maybe tomorrow when you’re completely sober. One shot can still cause trouble.’ Peter insisted softly, lifting his hand with Tony’s to kiss the inside of his vibranium wrist.

Tony licked his lips at the sight, nodding and watching him walk away to collect Morgan to put her to bed.

When the teen finally reappeared, Tony was half asleep, his head on his arms as he lay half on the countertop. The man heard Peter laugh, a fond sound that made him smile and lift his head, taking his outstretched hand.

‘Fuck, I’d follow you anywhere, you know that?’ He hummed dreamily, wrapping his arms around his waist as they started the journey back up to the bedroom.

Peter visibly rolled his eyes as he dragged the man upstairs, shoving him into the adjoining bathroom.

‘Brush your teeth before you pass out. I’m not kissing stale whisky breath tomorrow morning.’ He expressed, taking a few minutes to brush his own teeth while watching to make sure Tony did his before tucking them both into bed and letting himself be spooned by the man.

Tony kept both arms wrapped securely around the teen, breathing softly against his ear.

‘Goodnight, Mr. Stark.’ Peter chuckled, leaning back to kiss Tony’s jawline and taking in the scent of motor oil, cinnamon and coffee still emanating from him.

‘Goodnight, Mr. Parker.’ He murmured in response, pressing his nose into the teen’s rose scented hair like a drug.


	15. 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, new chapter :3
> 
> Please enjoy and comment if you like it x

‘Daddy!’

Tony groaned at the sound of his daughter’s voice yelling, lifting his head, and pressing his fingers against his functioning eye to block out the light shining in through the window. He could feel the beginnings of an alcohol induced headache coming through and splitting his skull, making everything around him far too loud and far too bright. Morgan knocking on the door didn’t help with the pain at all.

Letting out a little huff, he sat up and pushed the covers away from his body, going to open the door. Morgan was on the other side, glaring up at her dad when he finally opened the door and pointing down the stairs.

‘Mommy’s here early and she wants to talk to you.’

The man sighed, leaning against the doorframe, and rubbing his forehead, giving her a distracted nod.

‘Tell Mommy I’ll be down in a few minutes. Have you had breakfast yet, demon?’

The little girl nodded in response, trying to see past the man’s body and into the bedroom confusing him.

‘What are you looking for?’

‘Peter! He wasn’t in the extra room and I wanted to watch cartoons with him before I have to leave.’ She whined, crossing her arms over her chest while Tony’s brain caught up to his body and he remembered what had happened the night before.

He glanced behind him into the room to find a Peter shaped lump under the sheets, moving up and down slowly with the young man’s breaths. He was still asleep, making soft little noises that Tony felt like only he could hear, so it made it easier to lie to Morgan.

‘He’s not in here, sweet pea, maybe he went home last night after our movie?’

The frown on Morgan’s face did make Tony feel bad for lying, admittedly, but he couldn’t risk the kid finding out what was going on before he’d had time to figure out how he was going to say it. He reached a hand out and placed it on his daughter’s head, turning her so she was facing towards the stairs and ruffling her hair.

‘Go and tell Mommy I’ll be there soon.’ He told her softly, watching the seven-year-old run off before breathing a sigh of relief and shutting the door, leaning against it with his eyes watching Peter’s figure turn over in the bed, still fast asleep despite the conversation that had gone on at the entrance to the bedroom.

He gazed at the teen’s breathing form for a moment then sighed. He really didn’t want to wake the teen up, not when he looked so peaceful and at ease. He seemed to be more high strung now that he had returned to Tony’s life and the man didn’t like that. Tony wanted to help him relax, help him become who he was two years before when he jumped out of that portal and gave him the brightest smile he’d ever seen.

Locking the bedroom door again, he approached Peter as slow as possible, lying down beside him and sliding a hand around his waist. The teen made a little groaning sound in response, trying to move away from him before Tony pressed his face closer to his, pressing their noses together.

‘I’m going to stay right here until you wake up.’ He hummed, pecking his nose after a while when he didn’t move and squeezing his waist.

‘Come on, Pete, I need to talk to Pepper downstairs and you need to hide before Morg figures out I lied to her.’ He insisted in a soft tone, biting his nose this time, and listening to the teen huff.

Peter sat up with a groan the same way Tony had, rubbing his eyes, and glaring at the sun shining in through the open curtains that they forgot to shut the night before. Then he glared at Tony instead.

‘How early is it?’

Tony shrugged in response, glancing over at his clock and wincing when he saw the time.

‘It’s not that early, eleven fifteen. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Pepper is here to pick her up by now.’

His younger companion let out a huff and leaned his forehead on Tony’s shoulder, letting out a loud yawn and trying to bury his face further into the man’s neck. The latter frowned at how clingy he was being, bringing a hand up to stroke through his hair and questioning the way he was sticking to Tony like the man was a spider web.

‘What’s got you feeling cuddly this morning?’

‘I have sugar headaches just like you have alcohol headaches. My head hurts like hell.’ He complained, leaning into the hand running through his hair with a soft whine.

Tony frowned deeper at the way Peter was acting, the crease between his eyebrows getting worse as he lifted the boy’s chin to check his pupils and saw them constricted.

‘I want to check that out at the Compound medical facility, I don’t think sugar should be doing that to your eyes.’ He expressed, concerned about the teen’s health as he sat up properly and went to the wardrobe to get some fresh clothes for the day.

Peter let out another whine at the man’s insistence, shaking his head when Tony turned around and lying back down to bury his face in the pillow under his head again.

‘I don’t want to see any of them, I haven’t spoken to them in two years other than the Guardians and I don’t want them to drag me into a mission just because I’m grown-up Spider-Man now, as if I can take care of myself better now that I’m nineteen.’ He complained, ignoring the placement of his mentor’s hand on top of his head in favour of burying his head further into the sand.

The older man shook his head, taking his hand away and zipping up his jeans.

‘Pete, I don’t care how much you hate them all or want to avoid them for the rest of your life, I need to check your eyes and I don’t have the necessary equipment here to do it. Come on, it’ll be fun, you can catch up with everybody. You could even give Build-a-Bear a call and complain with him about how annoying all the others are.’ He smiled, trying to cheer him up and rolling his eyes when he only got a shrug in response.

He approached him with his hand out, lifting his chin and planting a kiss on the teen’s mouth, looking down into his eyes before tapping on his nose.

‘Get dressed before you turn into a sloth.’

Peter grumbled softly when his nose was tapped but nodded anyway, sitting up properly and finally getting out of the bed.

Once both Peter and Tony had showered, the latter man ordered the other to stay in the bedroom, jogging downstairs to find Pepper with Morgan by her side and smiling when he saw her.

‘Hey, Pep. You’re early.’

‘I’m actually late, you must have slept all morning.’ The woman smiled at him, tilting her head at the ruffled appearance of her ex-husband’s hair.

‘Rough night?’

‘Never left the workshop. Is everything alright? Morg said you needed me.’ He asked, a slight tinge of worry in his voice as he worried something was wrong, but Pepper shook her head.

‘I just came by to tell you Rhodey’s coming back next week. He got an early discharge from the mission and he wanted me to tell you he’ll be dropping by at some point.’ She smiled, petting Morgan’s hair when her daughter wrapped around her waist and eyed the stairs like she was waiting for Peter to come down them.

Tony wondered if his daughter was smarter than he had assumed.

Nodding in reply to Pepper’s smile, he smiled too, acknowledging what she’d said and rounding off the conversation.

‘Well, don’t let me keep you from whatever fun Mommy has planned for today, demon. I’ll see you next week, okay?’ He kneeled down to the girl, grinning when she nodded and kissing her cheek before letting them disappear out of the door.

‘Are you making breakfast before we leave?’ The sleepy tone of Peter’s voice sounded behind him and he whipped around to find the teen still half dressed but with his hair combed neatly.

That was a start.

He nodded to him, gesturing to the bar stools where the empty beer cans of his regret once lay and going to the fridge.

‘I’ll make eggs.’


	16. 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, new chapter! :3
> 
> Comment if you enjoy, I love you all! xx

Tony sighed as he came to a halt outside the Avengers’ new compound, putting his foot down on the ground to balance his motorcycle and letting Peter get off the back. The teen pulled off his helmet to reveal his flushed cheeks and messy hair, tugging at Tony’s heartstrings. His new dynamic with the younger man was still new but he felt like he had been in this relationship for years. Technically he had, pining after Peter the whole time he was dead and wishing he’d come back just so he could see his face again.

Now he could see it up close and personal any time he liked but the vision that was Peter Parker made him lose his breath each time he appeared in front of his eyes, and especially when his cheeks were a dusty pink from the cold air whipping into his face during their ride to the compound. Driving the teen on his motorcycle felt like a rite of passage, something to cement their relationship into who they were now rather than who they were two years before that moment. He didn’t have the bike when he was Iron Man, nor when he was a drunk hauled up in his workshop, and Peter didn’t have that red tinge to his hair back then. They were new people and that put Tony at ease, making him feel less like a compromised father figure preying on his young protégé and more like an older man and falling in love with an old friend.

Once Peter was off the bike and ready to go inside, Tony got off too, tugging his helmet off to reveal his usually messy blonde hair even more dishevelled underneath and setting it down on top of the bike’s front seat, putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

‘Are you sure you don’t want my jacket instead? That hoodie doesn’t look very warm, kiddo.’ He tried convincing him yet again to wrap up in the older man’s thick leather jacket, but Peter just shook his head, gesturing to the tall building towering over them.

‘I’ll be taking it off in a minute anyway, there’s heating inside the compound.’ He argued back, trying to put Tony at ease who sighed again, sounding every bit the frustrated mentor he used to be.

‘Alright, come on then.’ He nudged the teen in through the doors, both of them scanning their access cards to get in and listening to the newest AI system, ASTRA, saying their names and announcing both of their Alpha security designations.

‘Surprised I’m still Alpha after quitting Spider-Man.’ Peter whispered as they started walking up the stairs to the first floor, staying quiet as he spoke so that none of the others walking past them tried to reassure him of his status.

He had never liked being reminded of how powerful he was an Avenger under Tony’s superstar wing.

‘Me too. I guess we’re too popular to kick out of the Alpha club.’ Tony whispered back, smiling at a few people that passed by them.

The two men climbed the multiple staircases that led to the Alpha clearance floor, glad they remembered how to get there when there were no indicating signs to point them to where they should be going.

Tony had done that as a safety precaution in case an enemy invaded so that they would be confused about where to steal information from long enough for someone to take them down, but it just seemed confusing.

Once they had figured out where to go and reached the living quarters of all the few active Avengers who stayed in the compound, Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulder to reassure him that he would be okay before leading him into the communal kitchen where Kip and Luka were making hot chocolate together.

The two teenagers lifted their gazes at the sound of footsteps, both tilting their heads in sync and smiling.

‘Hey, long time no see!’ Kip chirped while Luka dug around in the fridge to get milk for their drinks.

‘Good to see you two are still creeping everybody out with that Shining twins routine. Who’s in today?’ Tony asked them both when the violet-haired teen turned back with milk in his hands and started measuring out the right amount for two cups of hot chocolate.

Kip appeared to think for a moment before Luka spoke up instead, putting his own Loki-themed mug in the microwave.

‘Mr Fury is overseeing new girl’s evaluation, Loki’s still in bed, Sam and Steve are coming for training later this afternoon and Wanda’s leading new girl’s evaluation.’ He told them in a chirpy tone of voice, brushing his hair away from his cobalt eyes and sitting down on one of the barstools to wait for the drink to be ready.

Kip nodded in agreement, braced teeth showing as they smiled.

‘So why are you guys here?’ They asked curiously, sneaking a cookie from the packet on the counter and breaking it into small pieces so they didn’t get it stuck in their wires.

Tony gestured to Peter in reply, pointing to his eyes.

‘Something’s wrong with his spider peepers. Is Helen working today?’ He hoped the team doctor was in so he could get a second opinion about his conclusion regarding Peter’s eyes.

He hadn’t yet told the teen, but he knew what drug use did to the body and the discovery of a full needle of god knows what in the boy’s backpack had only confirmed his suspicions. Now he just needed Dr Cho to figure out what he was using and what it was doing to his body.

‘The Doc only works on an emergency basis now. Something about living under the same roof as us giving her anxiety.’ Luka shrugged, offering Tony a sheepish smile while Kip switched out the mugs in the microwave, sliding Luka his finished drink.

Tony rolled his eyes at the suggestion in the teen’s voice that Helen had left because of his and Kip’s antics. He heard Peter laugh under his breath at the sight of Luka’s mug.

‘You’re already dating him. Isn’t the mug a bit much?’

Luka just huffed in response, sipping from his Loki mug as the hallway connecting the bedrooms to the kitchen filled with the sound of lazy footsteps.

‘I like it.’ The low, raspy voice of a just awoken Loki Odinson responded to Peter’s teasing, the god appearing in in very casual dress with his black hair dishevelled as he wandered in and started making coffee for himself.

‘Thank you, Wolfie.’

‘You’re welcome, Squish.’

‘Morning, Loki.’

‘Spider-Boy,’ Loki nodded to Peter, adding sugar to his mug, ‘Been a while since you were here.’

Peter shrugged, stealing one of the cookies on the counter and taking a bite of it.

‘I adopted a regular human life, I work with dogs like you now.’ He teased, making the god bare his teeth and snarl.

‘I regret ever telling you about that.’

‘The rainbow shirt suits you, Wolfie.’ Tony snickered, eyeing the t-shirt covered in hearts and accepting Loki’s scathing glare with a smirk when it moved to him, gripping Peter’s shoulder tighter, looking down at him.

‘Why don’t we phone in Dr Cho and then have some coffee with these guys?’ He suggested with a smile, petting the teen’s hair and nodding when he did.

Peter glanced behind him with curiosity when they started heading out the door, watching as Loki turned back around from making his coffee and wrapped his arms around Luka, giving the teen a kiss on the cheek. It made the ex-hero smile before he spun back to link his arm with Tony’s, leaning his head on the older man’s shoulder.

‘Those two make a nice couple.’ He hummed, distracted immediately by the feel of Tony’s beard on his cheek when he looked up at the man from his resting place on his collarbone.

The taller of the two nodded, letting out a low chuckle that had Peter smiling brighter, the teen glad that his mentor was happy and not in a state of mind that might cause him to seek out alcohol anywhere he could find it within the compound.

‘Their names are a lil’ similar though. That could get confusing quickly.’ Tony chuckled, leading Peter into the medical section of the compound and getting him to sit down on one of the chairs there.

Peter shrugged, sitting down and observing Tony as he got his phone out to call the doctor, sitting down beside him and holding onto his younger counterpart’s hand as the cell phone line rang, finally picked up on the other side by Helen Cho.

‘Tony Stark. I haven’t heard from you since your daughter’s vaccinations. How can I help you? Old age catching up to your muscles?’ The doctor teased, making Tony roll his eyes and squeeze Peter’s hand tighter, not wanting him to escape when he asked his next question.

‘Old age hasn’t reached me yet, my dearest Helen, I’m phoning to get medical instructions from you. I need to know how to do a blood draw so I can send you a sample for a drug test.’ He could feel Peter’s hand flinch in his, ready to run but unable to when Tony had such a tight grip on him.

They sat there in complete silence that unnerved Peter while Helen explained how Tony should draw a sample of the teen’s blood, the younger man shaking in anticipation of what his new partner was going to say. How much yelling he was about to do.

Once Tony had written down all of the instructions, he sat the notepad and pen to the side, smiling at the phone despite knowing that Helen couldn’t see him.

‘Thanks, Doc. I’ll have the sample to you in the next few hours. I want a full report on it. Have a good day.’ He signed off with the woman before turning to Peter, pulling his chair closer to him so he couldn’t escape and holding his hands in both of his.

Peter stared back at him anxiously when they met gazes, feeling like he would throw up if Tony yelled at him and squeezing the man’s hands for support before he spoke pre-emptively.

‘I’m sorry.’

Tony shook his head, letting out a sigh and running a hand through his hair.

‘I’m not mad, I know that drug addiction is an illness, Peter, but why did you even start? Did it happen when I was out of commission? What the fuck are you even taking that can get past your spider proteins?’

The teen didn’t say anything for a moment, looking down so he didn’t have to watch Tony survey his reactions to questions and finally speaking up in a meek voice.

‘Chloral hydrate…’ He glanced up at the man briefly to gauge a reaction only for him to shake his head again, the older man leaning forward and pecking him on the lips.

‘Let’s get your blood taken just in case. Gimme your arm, kiddo.’ He outstretched his hand and Peter grumbled, putting his wrist in his grip reluctantly.


End file.
